Proverbs 1-2

Complete Jewish Bible

⁷ The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸ My son, heed the discipline of your father,
and do not abandon the teaching of your mother;
⁹ they will be a garland to grace your head,
a medal of honor for your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
don’t go along with them.
¹¹ Suppose they say, “Come with us:
we’ll ambush somebody and kill him,
we’ll waylay some harmless soul, just for fun;
¹² we’ll swallow him alive, like Sh’ol,
whole, like those who descend to the pit;
¹³ we’ll find everything he has of value,
we’ll fill our homes with loot!
¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us;
we’ll share a common purse” —
¹⁵ my son, don’t go along with them,
don’t set foot on their path;
¹⁶ Their feet run to evil,
they rush to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is the net baited
if any bird can see it;
¹⁸ rather, they are ambushing themselves
to shed their own blood, waylaying themselves.
¹⁹ So are the ways of all greedy for gain —
it takes the lives of those who get it.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud in the open air
and raises her voice in the public places;
²¹ she calls out at streetcorners
and speaks out at entrances to city gates:
²² “How long, you whose lives have no purpose,
will you love thoughtless living?
How long will scorners find pleasure in mocking?
How long will fools hate knowledge?
²³ Repent when I reprove —
I will pour out my spirit to you,
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because you refused when I called,
and no one paid attention when I put out my hand,
²⁵ but instead you neglected my counsel
and would not accept my reproof;
²⁶ I, in turn, will laugh at your distress,
and mock when terror comes over you —
²⁷ yes, when terror overtakes you like a storm
and your disaster approaches like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble assail you.
²⁸ Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
they will seek me earnestly, but they won’t find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of Adonai,
³⁰ they refused my counsel
and despised my reproof.
³¹ So they will bear the consequences of their own way
and be overfilled with their own schemes.
³² For the aimless wandering of the thoughtless will kill them,
and the smug overconfidence of fools will destroy them;
³³ but those who pay attention to me will live securely,
untroubled by fear of misfortune.”

2 My son, if you will receive my words
and store my commands inside you,
² paying attention to wisdom
inclining your mind toward understanding —
³ yes, if you will call for insight
and raise your voice for discernment,
⁴ if you seek it as you would silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure —
⁵ then you will understand the fear of Adonai
and find knowledge of God.

⁶ For Adonai gives wisdom;
from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He stores up common sense for the upright,
is a shield to those whose conduct is blameless,
⁸ in order to guard the courses of justice
and preserve the way of those faithful to him.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
fairness and every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
knowledge will be enjoyable for you,
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
and discernment will guard you.

¹² They will save you from the way of evil
and from those who speak deceitfully,
¹³ who leave the paths of honesty
to walk the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who delight in doing evil
and take joy in being stubbornly deceitful,
¹⁵ from those whose tracks are twisted
and whose paths are perverse.

¹⁶ They will save you from a woman who is a stranger,
from a loose woman with smooth talk,
¹⁷ who abandons the ruler she had in her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God.
¹⁸ Her house is sinking toward death,
her paths lead to the dead.
¹⁹ None who go to her return;
they never regain the path to life.
²⁰ Thus you will walk on the way of good people
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will live in the land,
the pure-hearted will remain there;
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
the unfaithful rooted out of it.