Chronological
1 ¶ The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel;
2 to know wisdom and chastening; to understand prudent words;
3 to receive the chastening of prudence, justice, judgment, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple, and to the young men knowledge and council.
5 If the wise will hear them, doctrine shall increase, and the man of understanding shall acquire wise counsel:
6 To understand a parable and the interpretation; the words of the wise and their enigmas.
7 ¶ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and chastening.
8 My son, hearken unto the chastening of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an increase of grace unto thy head and protection about thy neck.
10 ¶ My son, if sinners entice thee, do not consent.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause.
12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol and whole as those that go down into the pit;
13 We shall find all kinds of riches, we shall fill our houses with spoil.
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet shall run to evil and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own souls.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain which takes away the life of those who possess it.
20 ¶ Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the entrance to the gates of the city she utters her words, saying,
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and the fools hate knowledge?
23 Return at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one responded;
25 for because ye have disregarded all my counsel and rejected my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes upon you;
27 when what you have feared comes as destruction, and your calamity comes as a whirlwind; when tribulation and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They rejected my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own counsel.
32 For the rest of the ignorant shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whosoever hearkens unto me shall dwell safely and shall rest from the fear of evil.
2 ¶ My son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments within thee
2 so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to intelligence,
3 yea, if thou criest for understanding and givest thy voice unto intelligence,
4 if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures,
5 then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and intelligence.
7 He keeps the person of the upright; he is a buckler to those that walk perfectly,
8 keeping the paths of judgment and the way of his merciful ones.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path.
10 ¶ When wisdom enters into thine heart and knowledge is sweet unto thy soul,
11 discretion shall preserve thee, intelligence shall keep thee
12 to deliver thee from the evil way, from the man that speaks perversion,
13 who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice to do evil and delight in wicked perversion,
15 whose ways are crooked, and they are crooked in their paths;
16 to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words,
17 who forsakes the prince of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 Therefore her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life.
20 That thou may walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
3 ¶ My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For they shall add length of days and long life and peace unto thee.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the tablet of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find grace and good favour in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It shall be medicine to thy navel and marrow to thy bones.
9 Honour the LORD with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
12 For the LORD chastens whom he loves and delights in, even as a father to his son.
13 ¶ Blessed is the man that has found wisdom and who brings to light intelligence,
14 for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the fruits thereof more than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than precious stones, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those that lay hold upon her, and blessed is every one that retains her.
19 The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth; by intelligence has he established the heavens.
20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the heavens drop down the dew.
21 ¶ My son, do not let them depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 so shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck.
23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
25 Thou shall not be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes.
26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
27 ¶ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28 Do not say unto thy neighbour, Go and come again and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it by thee.
29 Do not devise evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwells securely by thee.
30 Do not sue a man without cause, if he has done thee no harm.
31 Envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways.
32 For the perverse is an abomination to the LORD; but his secret is with the righteous.
33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked, but he shall bless the habitation of the just.
34 Surely he scorns the scorners; but he gives grace unto the humble.
35 The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
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