The Usefulness of Proverbs

The (A)proverbs of Solomon (B)the son of David, king of Israel:

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Purpose of Proverbs

The proverbs of Solomon, King David’s son, from Israel:

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21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:
22 “How long, you (A)naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking?
And how long will (B)scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools (C)hate knowledge?
23 Turn to my rebuke,
Behold, I will (D)pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because (E)I called and you (F)refused,
I (G)stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25 And you (H)neglected all my advice
And did not (I)want my rebuke;
26 I will also (J)laugh at your (K)disaster;
I will mock when your (L)dread comes,
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a (M)whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will (N)call on me, but I will not answer;
They will (O)seek me diligently but will not find me,
29 Because they (P)hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.
30 They (Q)did not accept my advice,
They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.
31 So they shall (R)eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be (S)filled with their own schemes.
32 For the (T)faithlessness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 But (U)whoever listens to me will live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

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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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