⁸ So, my son, pay attention to your father’s guidance,
    and do not ignore what your mother taught you—
⁹ Wear their wisdom as a badge of honor and maturity,
    as fine jewelry around your neck.
¹⁰ My son, should your less honorable peers pressure you to do what is wrong,
    you should be strong enough not to go along.

¹⁵ My son, do not join them;
    keep well away from their violent, destructive paths.
¹⁶ For they run right away, every time, to do wrong,
    and they are thirsty for blood.
¹⁷ You see, it makes no sense to bait the net and set the trap
    while the bird is watching,
¹⁸ But these hiding in the shadows and waiting to spill innocent blood
    are really just hastening their own destruction!
By giving in to their sinful desires,
    they set themselves up to be ambushed.
¹⁹ This is what happens to everyone who tries to profit by violence;
    violence will eventually rob them of their very lives.

²⁰ There’s another voice in town.
    It belongs to Lady Wisdom, who calls out in the street.
    She cries out in the town square,
²¹ At the city gates, in the noisy city streets,
    you can hear her speaking over the racket.

²² Lady Wisdom: You simple, naive people, how long will you love your feeble ways?
    You simpletons, how long will you enjoy making fun of what you don’t understand?
        You fools, how long will you hate learning what truly matters?
²³     Turn to me and receive my gentle correction;
    Watch and I will pour out my spirit on you;
        I will share with you my wise words in order to redirect your lives.
²⁴     You hear, but you have refused to answer my call.
        My hands reached out, but no one noticed.
²⁵     All my advice, all my correction, all have been neglected—
        you wanted nothing of them.
²⁶     So I will be the laughter you hear when misfortune comes, and it will come.
        I will be the mocking sound when panic grips you—
²⁷     When panic comes like a stormy blast,
        when misfortune sweeps in like a whirlwind,
        when sorrow and anguish weigh you down.

²⁸ This is when they will call on me, but I will not respond;
    they will be frantic to find me, but they won’t be able.
²⁹ Because they despised knowledge of my ways,
    and they also refused to respect and honor the Eternal,
³⁰ Because they rejected my advice
    and turned down my correction,
³¹ They will surely get what’s coming to them:
    they’ll be forced to eat the fruit of their wicked ways;
    they’ll gorge themselves on the consequences of their choices.
³² You see, it’s turning away from me that brings death to the simple,
    and it’s self-satisfaction that destroys the fools.
³³ But those who listen to me now will live under divine protection;
    they can rest knowing they are out of harm’s way.

⁴ DEMONSTRATE Your ways, O Eternal One.
    Teach me to understand so I can follow.