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?
²³ If you respond to my warning,
I will pour out my spirit for you.
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I called, but you refused to listen,
because I stretched out my hand, but no one paid attention,
²⁵ because you ignored all my advice,
and you did not accept my warning,
²⁶ therefore I will laugh at your calamity.
I will jeer when terror strikes you,
²⁷ when terror strikes you like a violent storm,
when calamity strikes you like a windstorm,
when trouble and distress come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call to me, but I will not answer.
They will look for me, but they will not find me,
²⁹ because they hated knowledge,
and they did not choose the fear of the Lord.
³⁰ They would not accept my advice,
and they despised all my warnings.
³¹ So they will eat the fruit of their own way,
and they will be stuffed with their own schemes.
³² Therefore the wandering ways^[b] of the gullible kill them,
and the complacency of fools destroys them.
³³ But whoever listens to me will live in safety.
He will be secure, without fear of evil.”

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commands,
and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.
²¹ Fasten them permanently to your heart,
and tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will stand guard over you.
When you wake up, they will converse with you,
²³ because a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and the warnings given by discipline are a road to life.

³¹ The mouth of a righteous person produces the fruit of wisdom,
but a perverse tongue will be cut off.

¹⁴ Without guidance people fall,
but in many advisors there is safety.

⁵ The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

²⁶ A righteous person guides his neighbor,^[a]
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

¹³ The person who despises a word of instruction will pay the price,
but the person who respects a command will be rewarded.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
but the heart of fools—not so.