Proverbs 1
The Message
Wise Sayings of Solomon
A Manual for Living
1 1-6 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
David’s son, Israel’s king—
Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it’s going;
A manual for living,
for learning what’s right and just and fair;
To teach the inexperienced the ropes
and give our young people a grasp on reality.
There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,
still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
Start with God
7 Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.
Wear their counsel like a winning crown,
like rings on your fingers.
Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,
don’t go along with them.
If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell.
Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
Let’s pick them clean
and get them ready for their funerals.
We’ll load up on top-quality loot.
We’ll haul it home by the truckload.
Join us for the time of your life!
With us, it’s share and share alike!”—
Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look;
don’t listen to them for a minute.
They’re racing to a very bad end,
hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
Nobody robs a bank
with everyone watching,
Yet that’s what these people are doing—
they’re doing themselves in.
When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:
the more you get, the less you are.
Lady Wisdom
20-21 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.
At the town center she makes her speech.
In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.
At the busiest corner she calls out:
22-24 “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?
Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?
Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?
About face! I can revise your life.
Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you;
I’m ready to tell you all I know.
As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear;
I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.
25-28 “Since you laugh at my counsel
and make a joke of my advice,
How can I take you seriously?
I’ll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!
What if the roof falls in,
and your whole life goes to pieces?
What if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing
to show for your life but rubble and ashes?
You’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect an answer.
No matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.
29-33 “Because you hated Knowledge
and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,
Because you wouldn’t take my advice
and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it;
you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it?
Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?
Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.
First pay attention to me, and then relax.
Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”
Proverbs 1
Revised Geneva Translation
1 The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel:
2 to know wisdom and instruction; to understand the words of knowledge;
3 to receive instruction; to do wisely by justice and judgment and equity;
4 to give sharpness of wit to the simple, and knowledge and discretion to the child.
5 And a wise man shall hear and increase in learning. And a man of understanding shall attain to wise counsels;
6 to understand a parable and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 For they shall be a comely ornament for your head, and as chains for your neck.
10 My son, if the wicked entice you, do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us. We will lay in wait for blood, and lie secretly for the innocent, without a cause.
12 “We will swallow them up alive like a grave, even whole, as those who go down into the pit.
13 “We shall find all precious riches. And fill our houses with spoil:
14 “Cast in your lot among us. And we will all have one purse.”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path.
16 For their feet run to evil and hurry to shed blood.
17 Certainly, as without cause, the net is spread before the eyes of all who have wing.
18 So they lay in wait for blood and lie secretly for their lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. He would take away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom cries outside. She utters her voice in the streets.
21 She calls in the high street, among the praise in the enterings of the gates, and utters her words in the city, saying,
22 “O you foolish! How long will you love foolishness, and the scornful take their pleasure in scorning, and the fools hate knowledge?
23 “Turn at my correction! Lo, I will pour out my mind to you, and make you understand my words!
24 “Because I have called, and you refused. I have stretched out my hand, and none would regard.
25 “But you have despised all my counsel. And would have none of my correction.
26 “I will also laugh at your destruction, and mock when your fear comes,
27 “when your fear comes like sudden desolation. And your destruction shall come like a whirlwind when affliction and anguish shall come 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 “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30 “They would have none of my counsel; but despised all my correction.
31 “Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way; and be filled with their own devices.
32 “For ease slays the foolish, and the prosperity of fools destroys them.
33 But he who obeys me, shall dwell safely, and be quiet from fear of evil.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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