Proverbs 1:20-22
Evangelical Heritage Version
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?
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:22 Or naïve
Proverbs 1:20-22
New King James Version
The Call of Wisdom
20 (A)Wisdom calls aloud [a]outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
21 She cries out in the [b]chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
22 “How long, you [c]simple ones, will you love [d]simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:20 in the street
- Proverbs 1:21 LXX, Syr., Tg. top of the walls; Vg. the head of multitudes
- Proverbs 1:22 naive
- Proverbs 1:22 naivete
Proverbs 1:20-22
English Standard Version
The Call of Wisdom
20 (A)Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at (B)the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O (C)simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will (D)scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools (E)hate knowledge?
Proverbs 1:20-22
Common English Bible
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?
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible