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Solomon’s Speeches About Wisdom

First Address to a Son:
Avoid the Company of Sinners

Listen, my son, to your father’s discipline,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching,

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First Poem About Wisdom: Wisdom Calls but Many Refuse

20 Wisdom calls out loudly in the street.
In the public squares she raises her voice.
21 At the noisy street corners she calls out.
At the entrances to the city gates she speaks her words:
22 “How long will you gullible[a] people love being gullible?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing?
How long will fools hate knowledge?
23 If you respond to my warning,
I will pour out my spirit for you.
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I called, but you refused to listen,
because I stretched out my hand, but no one paid attention,
25 because you ignored all my advice,
and you did not accept my warning,
26 therefore I will laugh at your calamity.
I will jeer when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a violent storm,
when calamity strikes you like a windstorm,
when trouble and distress come upon you.
28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer.
They will look for me, but they will not find me,
29 because they hated knowledge,
and they did not choose the fear of the Lord.
30 They would not accept my advice,
and they despised all my warnings.
31 So they will eat the fruit of their own way,
and they will be stuffed with their own schemes.
32 Therefore the wandering ways[b] of the gullible kill them,
and the complacency of fools destroys them.
33 But whoever listens to me will live in safety.
He will be secure, without fear of evil.”

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:22 Or naïve
  2. Proverbs 1:32 Or apostasy

11 Do not reject the Lord’s discipline, my son,
and do not despise his warning,
12 because the Lord warns[a] the one he loves
    as a father warns a son with whom he is pleased.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 3:12 Or disciplines

An Address to Sons:
Your Parents Teach You Wisdom

Listen, you sons, to a father’s discipline.
Pay attention so that you will gain discernment,

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Lady Wisdom’s Proverbs

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults,
and whoever warns a wicked person invites abuse.
Do not warn a mocker, or he will hate you.
Warn a wise person, and he will love you.

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17 Whoever practices discipline is on the path to life,
but whoever rejects a warning goes astray.

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More Examples of Righteous Behavior

12 A person who loves discipline loves knowledge,
but one who hates correction is stupid.

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Wise Ways to Live

13 A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,
but a scornful son does not listen to a reprimand.

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18 A person who ignores discipline ends up with poverty and shame,
but one who conforms to correction will be honored.

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A stubborn fool despises his father’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction is sensible.

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12 A scoffer does not love anyone who corrects him.
He will not go to wise people.

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32 A person who ignores discipline despises himself,
but a person who listens to a warning acquires good sense.

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