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A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

My child,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:8 Hebrew My son; also in 1:10, 15.

Avoid evil associations

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction;
    don’t neglect your mother’s teaching;

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Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

Listen, my son,(A) to your father’s(B) instruction
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(C)

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My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

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Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

20 Wisdom shouts in the streets.
    She cries out in the public square.
21 She calls to the crowds along the main street,
    to those gathered in front of the city gate:
22 “How long, you simpletons,
    will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
    How long will you fools hate knowledge?
23 Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
    and make you wise.

24 “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
    I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
25 You ignored my advice
    and rejected the correction I offered.
26 So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
    I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
    and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

28 “When they cry for help, I will not answer.
    Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
29 For they hated knowledge
    and chose not to fear the Lord.
30 They rejected my advice
    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
32 For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
33 But all who listen to me will live in peace,
    untroubled by fear of harm.”

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Listen to “Woman Wisdom”

20 Wisdom shouts in the street;
    in the public square she raises her voice.
21 Above the noisy crowd, she calls out.
    At the entrances of the city gates, she has her say:
22 “How long will you clueless people love your naïveté,
    mockers hold their mocking dear,
    and fools hate knowledge?
23 You should respond when I correct you.
    Look, I’ll pour out my spirit on you.
    I’ll reveal my words to you.
24 I invited you, but you rejected me;
    I stretched out my hand to you,
    but you paid no attention.
25 You ignored all my advice,
    and you didn’t want me to correct you.
26 So I’ll laugh at your disaster;
    I’ll make fun of you when dread comes over you,
27         when terror hits you like a hurricane,
        and your disaster comes in like a tornado,
        when distress and oppression overcome you.
28 Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
    they will seek me, but won’t find me
29         because they hated knowledge
        and didn’t choose the fear of the Lord.
30 They didn’t want my advice;
    they rejected all my corrections.
31 They will eat from the fruit of their way,
    and they’ll be full of their own schemes.
32 The immature will die because they turn away;
    smugness will destroy fools.
33 Those who obey me will dwell securely,
    untroubled by the dread of harm.”

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Wisdom’s Rebuke

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,(A)
    she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[a] she cries out,
    at the city gate she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you who are simple(B) love your simple ways?
    How long will mockers delight in mockery
    and fools hate(C) knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
    Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
    I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse(D) to listen when I call(E)
    and no one pays attention(F) when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
    and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh(G) when disaster(H) strikes you;
    I will mock(I) when calamity overtakes you(J)
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster(K) sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
    when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;(L)
    they will look for me but will not find me,(M)
29 since they hated knowledge
    and did not choose to fear the Lord.(N)
30 Since they would not accept my advice
    and spurned my rebuke,(O)
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
    and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.(P)
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;(Q)
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety(R)
    and be at ease, without fear of harm.”(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:21 Septuagint; Hebrew / at noisy street corners

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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11 My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
12 For the Lord corrects those he loves,
    just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:12 Greek version reads loves, / and he punishes those he accepts as his children. Compare Heb 12:6.

11 Don’t reject the instruction of the Lord, my son;
    don’t despise his correction.
12 The Lord loves those he corrects,
    just like a father who treats his son with favor.

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11 My son,(A) do not despise the Lord’s discipline,(B)
    and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,(C)
    as a father the son he delights in.[a](D)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 3:12 Hebrew; Septuagint loves, / and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

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A Father’s Wise Advice

My children,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Pay attention and learn good judgment,

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew My sons.

Love wisdom

Hear, children, fatherly instruction;
    pay attention to gain understanding.

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Get Wisdom at Any Cost

Listen, my sons,(A) to a father’s instruction;(B)
    pay attention and gain understanding.(C)

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Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

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Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.
    Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.
So don’t bother correcting mockers;
    they will only hate you.
But correct the wise,
    and they will love you.

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Wise advice

Whoever instructs the cynic gets insulted;
    whoever corrects the wicked gets hurt.
Don’t correct the impudent, or they will hate you;
    correct the wise, and they will love you.

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Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.(A)
Do not rebuke mockers(B) or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you.(C)

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He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

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17 People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life,
    but those who ignore correction will go astray.

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17 Those who heed instruction are on the way to life,
    but those who ignore correction lose their way.

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17 Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,(A)
    but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

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17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

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12 To learn, you must love discipline;
    it is stupid to hate correction.

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12 Those who love discipline love knowledge,
    and those who hate correction are stupid.

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12 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
    but whoever hates correction is stupid.(A)

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12 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

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