Proverbs 1-3
Modern English Version
The Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to perceive the words of understanding,
3 to receive the instruction of wisdom,
justice, judgment, and equity;
4 to give subtlety to the simple,
to the young man knowledge and discretion—
5 a wise man will hear and will increase learning,
and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 to understand a proverb and the interpretation,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The Prologue: Embrace Wisdom
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
and do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
9 for they will be a garland of grace on your head,
and chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
let us lie in wait for blood;
let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12 let us swallow them up alive as the grave,
and whole, as those who go down into the pit;
13 we will find all kinds of precious possessions;
we will fill our houses with spoil;
14 cast in your lot among us,
let us 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 make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread
in the sight of any bird.
18 They lie in wait for their own blood;
they lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain,
which takes away the life of its owners.
The Call of Wisdom
20 Wisdom cries out in the street;
she utters her voice in the markets.
21 She cries at the corner of the streets, in the openings of the gates;
she speaks her words in the city, saying:
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For the scorners delight in their scorning,
and fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my reproof;
surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded,
25 because you neglected all my counsel,
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your fear comes,
27 when your fear comes as desolation
and your destruction comes as a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me early, but they will 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
and despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way,
and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
and the prosperity of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
and will be secure from fear of evil.”
The Value of Wisdom
2 My son, if you will receive my words,
and hide my commandments within you,
2 so that you incline your ear to wisdom,
and apply your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you cry out for knowledge,
and lift up your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek her as silver,
and search for her as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.
8 He keeps the paths of justice,
and preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and judgment
and equity, and every good path.
10 When wisdom enters your heart,
and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 discretion will preserve you;
understanding will keep you,
12 to deliver you from the way of the evil man,
from the man who speaks perverse things,
13 from those who leave the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 who rejoice to do evil,
and delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 whose ways are crooked,
and who are devious in their paths;
16 to deliver you from the immoral woman,
even from the seductress who flatters with her words,
17 who forsakes the guide of her youth,
and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death,
and her paths to the departed spirits;
19 none who go to her return again,
nor do they take hold of the paths of life.
20 So you may walk in the way of good men
and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land,
and the innocent will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
and the transgressors will be rooted out of it.
The Rewards of Wisdom
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
2 for length of days and long life
and peace will they add to you.
3 Do not let mercy and truth forsake you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart,
4 so you will find favor and good understanding
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your body,
and strength to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your substance,
and with the first fruits of all your increase;
10 so your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your presses will burst out with new wine.
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
nor be weary of His correction;
12 for whom the Lord loves He corrects,
even as a father the son in whom he delights.
13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
and the man who gets understanding;
14 for her benefit is more profitable than silver,
and her gain than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies,
and all the things you may desire are not to be compared with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand,
and in her left hand riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
and happy is everyone who retains her.
19 The Lord by wisdom has founded the earth;
by understanding He has established the heavens;
20 by His knowledge the depths are broken up,
and the clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22 so they will be life to your soul
and grace to your neck.
23 Then you will walk safely in your way,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26 for the Lord will be your confidence,
and will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give it,”
when you have it with you.
29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
seeing he dwells securely by you.
30 Do not strive with a man without cause,
if he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy the oppressor,
and choose none of his ways;
32 for the perverse is an abomination to the Lord,
but His secret counsel is with the righteous.
33 The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
but He blesses the habitation of the just.
34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
but He gives favor to the humble.
35 The wise will inherit glory,
but shame will be the legacy of fools.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.