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for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair;
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The fear of the class="small-caps" >Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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class="proverbs-major">Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
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They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
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My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
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If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;
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cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—
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for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.
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How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!
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These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!
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Wisdom’s Rebuke
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square;
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on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:
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But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
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I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
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when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
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“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,
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since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the class="small-caps" >Lord.
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they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
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For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
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but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
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Moral Benefits of Wisdom
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
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turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
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indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
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For the class="small-caps" >Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
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He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
