²⁰ Wisdom crieth aloud in the street;
She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
²¹ She crieth ^[a]in the chief place of concourse;
At the entrance of the gates,
In the city, she uttereth her words:
²² How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
And scoffers delight them in scoffing,
And fools hate knowledge?
²³ Turn you at my reproof:
Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;
I will make known my words unto you.
²⁴ Because I have called, and ye have refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;
²⁵ But ye have set at nought all my counsel,
And would none of my reproof:
²⁶ I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;
I will mock when your fear cometh;
²⁷ When your fear cometh as ^[b]a storm,
And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind;
When distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me ^[c]diligently, but they shall not find me:
²⁹ For that they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of Jehovah,
³⁰ They would none of my counsel,
They despised all my reproof.
³¹ Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own devices.
³² For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,
And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
³³ But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely,
And shall be quiet without fear of evil.

^13 [a]The foolish woman is clamorous;
She is ^[b]simple, and knoweth nothing.
¹⁴ And she sitteth at the door of her house,
On a seat in the high places of the city,
¹⁵ To call to them that pass by,
Who go right on their ways:
¹⁶ Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither;
And as for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,
¹⁷ Stolen waters are sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
¹⁸ But he knoweth not that ^[c]the dead are there;
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.