Proverbs 1
New International Reader's Version
Purpose
1 These are the proverbs of Solomon. He was the son of David and the king of Israel.
2 Proverbs teach you wisdom and instruct you.
They help you understand wise sayings.
3 They provide you with instruction and help you live wisely.
They lead to what is right and honest and fair.
4 They give understanding to childish people.
They give knowledge and good sense to those who are young.
5 Let wise people listen and add to what they have learned.
Let those who understand what is right get guidance.
6 What I’m teaching also helps you understand proverbs and stories.
It helps you understand the sayings and riddles of those who are wise.
7 If you really want to gain knowledge, you must begin by having respect for the Lord.
But foolish people hate wisdom and instruction.
Think and Live Wisely
A Warning Against Sinful Men
8 My son, listen to your father’s advice.
Don’t turn away from your mother’s teaching.
9 What they teach you will be like a beautiful crown on your head.
It will be like a chain to decorate your neck.
10 My son, if sinful men tempt you,
don’t give in to them.
11 They might say, “Come along with us.
Let’s hide and wait to kill someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.
Let’s catch some harmless person in our trap.
12 Let’s swallow them alive, as the grave does.
Let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down into the pit.
13 We’ll get all kinds of valuable things.
We’ll fill our houses with what we steal.
14 Cast lots with us for what they own.
We’ll share everything we take from them.”
15 My son, don’t go along with them.
Don’t even set your feet on their paths.
16 They are always in a hurry to sin.
They are quick to spill someone’s blood.
17 How useless it is to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 Those who hide and wait will spill their own blood.
They will be caught in their own trap.
19 That’s what happens to everyone
who goes after money in the wrong way.
That kind of money takes away
the life of those who get it.
Wisdom’s Warning
20 Out in the open wisdom calls out.
She raises her voice in a public place.
21 On top of the city wall she cries out.
Here is what she says near the gate of the city.
22 “How long will you childish people love your childish ways?
How long will you rude people enjoy making fun of God and others?
How long will you foolish people hate knowledge?
23 Pay attention to my warning!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you.
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But you refuse to listen when I call out to you.
No one pays attention when I reach out my hand.
25 You turn away from all my advice.
And you do not accept my warning.
26 So I will laugh at you when you are in danger.
I will make fun of you when hard times come.
27 I will laugh when hard times hit you like a storm.
I will laugh when danger comes your way like a windstorm.
I will make fun of you when suffering and trouble come.
28 “Then you will call to me. But I won’t answer.
You will look for me. But you won’t find me.
29 You hated knowledge.
You didn’t choose to have respect for the Lord.
30 You wouldn’t accept my advice.
You turned your backs on my warnings.
31 So you will eat the fruit of the way you have lived.
You will choke on the fruit of what you have planned.
32 “The wrong path that childish people take will kill them.
Foolish people will be destroyed by being satisfied with the way they live.
33 But those who listen to me will live in safety.
They will be at ease and have no fear of being harmed.”
Proverbs 1
Legacy Standard Bible
To Know Wisdom
1 The (A)proverbs of Solomon (B)the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know (C)wisdom and discipline,
To understand the sayings of (D)understanding,
3 To (E)receive discipline [a]that leads to insight,
(F)Righteousness, justice, and equity,
4 To give (G)prudence to the [b](H)simple,
To the youth (I)knowledge and discretion;
5 Let the wise man hear and (J)increase in learning,
And a (K)man of understanding will acquire guidance,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their (L)riddles.
7 (M)The fear of [c]Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;
[d]Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.
The Enticement of Sinners
8 (N)Hear, my son, your father’s discipline
And (O)do not abandon your mother’s [e]instruction;
9 For they are a (P)garland of grace for your head
And [f](Q)ornaments about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners (R)entice you,
(S)Do not be willing.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us (T)lie in wait for blood,
Let us (U)ambush the innocent without cause;
12 Let us (V)swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, as those who (W)go down to the pit;
13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with spoil;
14 Cast in your lot [g]with us,
We shall all have one purse,”
15 My son, (X)do not walk in the way with them.
(Y)Withhold your feet from their pathway,
16 For (Z)their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.
17 For it is [h]no use that a net is spread
In the sight of any [i]bird;
18 But they (AA)lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own [j]lives.
19 So are the paths of everyone who is (AB)greedy for gain;
It takes away the [k]life of its possessors.
The Call of Wisdom
20 (AC)Wisdom shouts in the street,
She gives forth her voice in the square;
21 At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
22 “How long, O (AD)simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And (AE)scoffers delight in scoffing
And [l]fools (AF)hate knowledge?
23 Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will (AG)pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because (AH)I called and you (AI)refused,
I (AJ)stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25 And you (AK)neglected all my counsel
And were not (AL)willing to accept my reproof;
26 I will also (AM)laugh at your (AN)disaster;
I will mock when your (AO)dread comes,
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a (AP)whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will (AQ)call on me, but I will not answer;
They will (AR)seek me earnestly but they will not find me,
29 Because they (AS)hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.
30 They (AT)were not willing to accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof.
31 So they shall (AU)eat of the fruit of their way
And be (AV)satisfied with their own devices.
32 For the (AW)turning away of the simple will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 But (AX)he who listens to me shall dwell securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:3 Lit of
- Proverbs 1:4 Or naive
- Proverbs 1:7 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Proverbs 1:7 One who lacks wisdom due to negligence or carelessness; so in Prov
- Proverbs 1:8 Or law
- Proverbs 1:9 Lit necklaces
- Proverbs 1:14 Lit in the midst of us
- Proverbs 1:17 Lit in vain
- Proverbs 1:17 Lit possessor of wing
- Proverbs 1:18 Lit souls
- Proverbs 1:19 Lit soul
- Proverbs 1:22 One who fails in wisdom due to willful sin
Proverbs 1
King James Version
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
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