Beginning
Treasure Torah’s Teaching
7 My son, keep my words
and treasure my mitzvot within you.
2 Keep my mitzvot and live,
my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your relative.
5 They will keep you from a seducing woman,
from the foreign woman with her seductive speech.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice.
7 I saw among the naïve,
I noticed among the youth,
a young man lacking understanding,
8 crossing the street near her corner,
walking in the direction of her house,
9 in the twilight of the evening,
in the darkest hours of the night.
10 All of a sudden, a woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute and with a cunning heart.
11 She is loud and defiant.
Her feet never stay at home—
12 now in the streets, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.
13 So she grabs him and kisses him
and with a brazen face says to him:
14 “I had to sacrifice fellowship offerings;
today I paid my vow.
15 So I’ve come out to meet you,
to seek your presence eagerly—and I found you!
16 I have spread my couch with tapestry
of dyed Egyptian linens.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love till morning!
Let’s delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home—
he’s gone on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him—
he won’t come home until full moon.”
21 With her persistent pleading she entices him,
with smooth talk she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a stag bounding toward a trap,
23 till an arrow pierces its liver.
Like a bird darting into a snare,
he never considered his own soul!
24 Now then, sons, listen to me,
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray onto her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has brought down,
and numerous are all her slain.
27 Her house is a highway to Sheol,
leading down to the chambers of death.
Wisdom Appeals at the Gates
8 Does not wisdom cry out,
and understanding lift her voice?
2 On the topmost heights along the way,
at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
3 Beside the gates leading into the city,
at the entrances, she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O men, I call out!
My cry is to all mankind!
5 O naïve ones, learn prudence!
Fools, gain understanding!
6 Listen, for I speak excellent things,
and my lips utter right things.
7 For my mouth speaks truth,
and my lips detest wickedness.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous,
Nothing in them is perverse or crooked.
9 All of them are straightforward to the discerning,
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 Receive my instruction instead of silver
and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than jewels,
nothing you desire compares with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and acquire knowledge with discretion.
13 To fear Adonai is to hate evil.
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and a perverse mouth.
14 Counsel and sound wisdom are mine.
I have understanding and power.
15 By me kings reign
and princes decree justice.
16 By me princes govern,
and all nobles who judge righteously.
17 I love those who love me.
Those who earnestly seek me find me.[a]
18 With me are wealth and honor,
enduring riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than refined gold,
my harvest better than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
along paths of justice.
21 I endow substance to those who love me
and fill their treasuries.
Wisdom Before Creation
22 “Adonai brought me forth,
the first of His way,
before His works of old.
23 From eternity I was appointed
from the beginning, before the world began.
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth,
when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth.
26 He had not yet made the land,
the fields, or the first dust of the earth.
27 When He set the heavens in place, I was there.
When He inscribed the horizon on the face of the ocean,
28 when He established the skies above,
when He securely fixed the fountains of the deep,
29 when He set the boundaries for the sea,
so that the waters never transgress His command,
when He laid out earth’s foundations—
30 then I was the craftsman beside Him,
I was His daily delight, always rejoicing before Him,
31 rejoicing in His whole world,
and delighting in mankind.
32 “So now, children, listen to me!
Blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Heed discipline and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Blessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting at my doorposts.
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from Adonai.
36 But whoever fails to find me harms his life—
all who hate me love death.”
Wisdom and Folly Invite
9 Wisdom has built her house.
She has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her meat,
she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servant girls.
She calls from the city’s heights:
4 “Whoever is naïve, turn in here!”
To those who lack understanding, she says:
5 “Come, eat my bread
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Abandon your foolish ways and live!
Walk in the way of understanding.”
7 Whoever corrects a scoffer is asking for insult.
Whoever reproves a wicked man gets abuse.
8 Do not correct a scoffer or he will hate you.
Rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still.
Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through me your days will be many
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage,
but if you scoff, you bear it alone.
13 The foolish woman is rowdy.
She is naïve and knows nothing.
14 So she sits at the door of her house,
on a seat in the heights of the city,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who go straight on their way:
16 “Whoever is naïve, let him turn in here.”
To those who lack understanding, she says:
17 “Stolen water is sweet
and bread eaten in secret is delicious!”
18 But he does not know that the dead are there—
her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.