Proverbs 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Purpose of Proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon(A) son of David, king of Israel:
2 For learning what wisdom and discipline are;
for understanding insightful sayings;
3 for receiving wise instruction
in righteousness, justice, and integrity;(B)
4 for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced,[a](C)
knowledge and discretion(D) to a young man—
5 a wise man will listen and increase his learning,(E)
and a discerning man will obtain guidance—
6 for understanding a proverb or a parable,[b]
the words of the wise, and their riddles.(F)
Avoid the Path of the Violent
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,(I)
9 for they will be a garland(J) of grace on your head
and a gold chain around your neck.(K)
10 My son, if sinners entice you,(L)
don’t be persuaded.(M)
11 If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush(N) and kill someone.[c]
Let’s attack some innocent person(O) just for fun![d]
12 Let’s swallow them alive,(P) like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.(Q)
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.(R)
14 Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share our money”[e]—
15 my son, don’t travel that road with them(S)
or set foot on their path,(T)
16 because their feet run toward trouble
and they hurry to commit murder.[f](U)
17 It is foolish to spread a net
where any bird can see it,
18 but they set an ambush to kill themselves;[g]
they attack their own lives.
19 Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;(V)
it takes the lives of those who receive it.[h]
Wisdom’s Plea
20 Wisdom calls out in the street;
she raises her voice in the public squares.(W)
21 She cries out above[i] the commotion;
she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:
22 “How long, foolish ones, will you love ignorance?
How long will you mockers(X) enjoy mocking
and you fools hate knowledge?(Y)
23 If you respond to my warning,[j](Z)
then I will pour out my spirit on you(AA)
and teach you my words.
24 Since I called out and you refused,(AB)
extended my hand and no one paid attention,(AC)
25 since you neglected all my counsel(AD)
and did not accept my correction,
26 I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity.(AE)
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when trouble and stress overcome you.
28 Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
they will search for me, but won’t find me.(AF)
29 Because they hated knowledge,
didn’t choose to fear the Lord,(AG)
30 were not interested in my counsel,
and rejected all my correction,(AH)
31 they will eat the fruit of their way(AI)
and be glutted with their own schemes.(AJ)
32 For the turning away of the inexperienced will kill them,(AK)
and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me will live securely
and be free from the fear of danger.”(AL)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:4 Or simple, or gullible
- Proverbs 1:6 Or an enigma
- Proverbs 1:11 Lit Let’s ambush for blood
- Proverbs 1:11 Lit person for no reason
- Proverbs 1:14 Lit us; one bag will be for all of us
- Proverbs 1:16 Lit to shed blood
- Proverbs 1:18 Lit they ambush for their blood
- Proverbs 1:19 Lit takes the life of its masters
- Proverbs 1:21 Lit at the head of
- Proverbs 1:23 Lit back to my reprimand
Proverbs 1
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
1 The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
2 To know wisdom, and instruction:
3 To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:
4 To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.
5 A wise man shall hear and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess governments.
6 He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.
11 If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.
14 Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.
15 My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.
18 And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.
19 So the wage of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.
20 Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
22 O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?
23 Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.
24 Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.
25 You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.
26 I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.
27 When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:
28 Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:
29 Because they have hated instruction and received not the fear of the Lord,
30 Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices.
32 The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.
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