Proverbs 8-10

Proverbs 7 Proverbs 11

Proverbs 8-10New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Commendation of Wisdom

8 Does not wisdom call,
And understanding ^[a]lift up her voice?
²On top of the heights beside the way,
Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
³Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:
⁴“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
⁵“O ^[b]naive ones, understand prudence;
And, O fools, understand ^[c]wisdom.
⁶“Listen, for I will speak noble things;
And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.
⁷“For my mouth will utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸“All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.
⁹“They are all straightforward to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
¹¹“For wisdom is better than ^[d]jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And I find knowledge and discretion.
¹³“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate.
¹⁴“Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power is mine.
¹⁵“By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
¹⁶“By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.
¹⁷“I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.
¹⁸“Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness.
¹⁹“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.
²⁰“I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
²¹To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

²²“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works ^[e]of old.
²³“From everlasting I was ^[f]established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
²⁴“When there were no depths I was ^[g]brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵“Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills I was ^[h]brought forth;
²⁶While He had not yet made the earth and the ^[i]fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.
²⁷“When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became ^[j]fixed,
²⁹When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the water would not transgress His ^[k]command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
³⁰Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was daily His delight,
^[l]Rejoicing always before Him,
³¹^[m]Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.

³²“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.
³³“Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
³⁴“Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
³⁵“For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.
³⁶“But he who ^[n]sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”

Wisdom’s Invitation

9 Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
²She has ^[o]prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;
³She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:
⁴“Whoever is ^[p]naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks ^[q]understanding she says,
⁵“Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
⁶“^[r]Forsake your folly and live,
And proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who reproves a wicked man gets ^[s]insults for himself.
⁸Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,
Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
⁹Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.
¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

¹³The ^[t]woman of folly is boisterous,
She is ^[u]naive and knows nothing.
¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
¹⁵Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
¹⁶“Whoever is ^[v]naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks ^[w]understanding she says,
¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet;
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
¹⁸But he does not know that the ^[x]dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
²^[y]Ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness delivers from death.
³The Lord will not allow the ^[z]righteous to hunger,
But He will ^[aa]reject the craving of the wicked.
⁴Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
⁵He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.
⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.
⁸The wise of heart will receive commands,
But ^[ab]a babbling fool will be ^[ac]ruined.
⁹He who walks in integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will be found out.
¹⁰He who winks the eye causes trouble,
And ^[ad]a babbling fool will be ^[ae]ruined.
¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
¹²Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
¹³On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks ^[af]understanding.
¹⁴Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
¹⁵The rich man’s wealth is his ^[ag]fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
¹⁶The ^[ah]wages of the righteous is life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.
¹⁷He is on the path of life who heeds instruction,
But he who ignores reproof goes astray.
¹⁸He who conceals hatred has lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.
¹⁹When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
²⁰The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
²¹The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of ^[ai]understanding.
²²It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.
²³Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
²⁴What the wicked fears will come upon him,
But the desire of the righteous will be granted.
²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy one to those who send him.
²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs ^[aj]life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
²⁸The hope of the righteous is gladness,
But the expectation of the wicked perishes.
²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright,
But ruin to the workers of iniquity.
³⁰The righteous will never be shaken,
But the wicked will not dwell in the land.
³¹The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,
But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
³²The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,
But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.