Proverbs 1:20-33
Expanded Bible
Wisdom Speaks
20 Wisdom [C the personification of God’s wisdom; 8:1–36; 9:1–6] ·is like a woman shouting [L shouts] in the street;
she ·raises her voice [yells out] in the city squares [C the hub for business, government, and social interaction].
21 She cries out ·in the noisy street [L at the top of the noisy throng]
and shouts at the [L entrances of] city gates:
22 “You ·fools [simpletons; immature ones], how long will you be ·foolish [immature]?
How long will you make ·fun of wisdom [mocking so dear to you]
and hate knowledge?
23 If only you had ·listened [responded] when I corrected you,
I would have ·told you what’s in my heart [L poured forth my spirit to you];
I would have ·told you what I am thinking [L revealed my words to you].
24 I called, but you ·refused to listen [rejected me];
I held out my hand, but you paid no attention.
25 You ·did not follow [ignored] my advice
and did not ·listen when I corrected [want me to correct] you.
26 So I will laugh ·when you are in trouble [L at your calamity].
I will ·make fun [ridicule you] when disaster strikes you,
27 when ·disaster [dread] comes over you like a ·storm [tempest],
when trouble strikes you like a whirlwind,
when ·pain [distress] and ·trouble [oppression] overwhelm you.
28 “Then you will call to me,
but I will not answer.
You will ·look for [seek] me,
but you will not find me.
29 It is because you ·rejected [hated] knowledge
and did not choose to ·respect [fear; hold in awe] the Lord.
30 You did not ·accept [want] my advice,
and you rejected my correction.
31 So you will ·get what you deserve [L eat from the fruit of your path];
you will ·get what you planned for others [or be satisfied with your own counsel].
32 ·Fools [The simple/immature] will die because they ·refuse to listen [L turn away];
·they [L fools] will be destroyed because ·they do not care [of complacency].
33 But those who ·listen to [obey] me will live in safety
·and be at peace, without fear of injury [untroubled by the dread of harm].”
Proverbs 1:20-33
Amplified Bible
Wisdom Warns
20
[a]Wisdom shouts in the street,
She raises her voice in the markets;
21
She calls out at the head of the noisy streets [where large crowds gather];
At the entrance of the city gates she speaks her words:
22
“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?
How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,
How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?
23
“If you will turn and pay attention to my rebuke,
Behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.(A)
24
“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];(B)
25
And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,
26
I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,
27
When your dread and panic come like a storm,
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].
28
“Then they will call upon me (Wisdom), but I will not answer;
They will seek me eagerly but they will not find me,(C)
29
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord [that is, obeying Him with reverence and awe-filled respect],(D)
30
They would not accept my counsel,
And they spurned all my rebuke.
31
“Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own [wicked] way
And be satiated with [the penalty of] their own devices.
32
“For the turning away of the [b]naive will kill them,
And the careless ease of [self-righteous] fools will destroy them.(E)
33
“But whoever listens to me (Wisdom) will live securely and in confident trust
And will be at ease, without fear or dread of evil.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom is personified as a woman in vv 20-33 and speaks, in the first person, of godly wisdom. Read the word “wisdom” as “the wisdom of God” and see the wonderful power of this book.
- Proverbs 1:32 Lit simple ones.
Proverbs 9:13-18
Expanded Bible
13 ·Foolishness is like a loud woman [Woman Folly is boisterous/noisy];
she ·does not have wisdom or knowledge [L is ignorant and does not even know it].
14 She sits at the door of her house
at the highest place in the city [9:3; C her house is built on the highest point of the city, indicating she symbolizes false gods].
15 She ·calls out to [invites] those who are passing by,
who are going along, minding their own business.
16 She says to those who ·are uneducated [lack sense/heart],
“·Come in [Turn aside] here, you ·foolish [naive; immature; simpleminded] people!
17 Stolen water is sweeter,
and food eaten in secret tastes better.”
18 But these people don’t know that ·everyone who goes there dies [the dead/departed/shades are there],
that her guests ·end up deep in the grave [L are in the depths of Sheol].
Proverbs 9:13-18
Amplified Bible
13
The foolish woman is restless and noisy;
She is naive and easily misled and thoughtless, and knows nothing at all [of eternal value].
14
She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high and conspicuous places of the city,
15
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
16
“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks understanding (common sense), she says,
17
“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden];
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”(A)
18
But he does not know that the spirits of the dead are there,
And that her guests are [already] in the depths of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
