¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel,

²For discerning wisdom and instruction,

For understanding perspicacious sayings,

³For acquiring instruction in prudence,

Righteousness, and judgment and uprightness,

⁴To give shrewdness to the gullible,

And knowledge and thoughtfulness to the young man.

⁵The wise man will hear,

And he will add to his learning,

And the astute will acquire guidance,

⁶In understanding a proverb or an enigma

– The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, hear the correction of your father,

And do not forsake the instruction of your mother,

⁹For they are a garland of grace for your head

And a necklace around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you,

Do not comply.

¹¹If they say,

“Come with us,

Let's ambush for blood;

Let's without moral concern lie hidden for the innocent.

¹²Let's swallow them up

Like a grave for the living,

And whole,

Like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We will find all sorts of valuable goods

– We will fill our houses with booty.

¹⁴Cast your lot in with us;

We will all have one purse”,

¹⁵Then, my son, do not go that way with them.

Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶For their feet are running towards wrongdoing,

And they are hastening to shed blood,

¹⁷For the net is spread without suspicion

In the eyes of all fowl,

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood

– They hide so as to take their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the paths of everyone who engages in robbery

– It costs him his own life.

²⁰Wisdom cries out in the open;

In the streets it raises its voice.

²¹It calls out at the centre of public life;

At the city's gate entrance, it delivers its discourse

And says,

²²“How long, you gullible people, will you love gullibility?

And the mockers have made mockery their delight,

While fools detest knowledge.

²³Return to my reproof.

Look, let me pour out my spirit on you;

Let me make my arguments known to you,

²⁴Because I have called out,

But you have refused.

I have extended my hand,

But no-one has paid attention,

²⁵And you have neglected all my advice,

And you have declined my reproof.

²⁶I for my part will laugh at your downfall;

I will mock

When fear due to you arrives.

²⁷When fear on you arrives like a tempest,

And your downfall comes like a whirlwind

– When distress and trouble come over you –

²⁸Then they will call on me,

But I will not answer;

They will seek me diligently,

But they will not find me,

²⁹Because they detested knowledge,

And they did not choose fear of the Lord.

³⁰They did not want my advice;

They despised all my reproof.

³¹So they will eat the fruit of their way

And be satiated with their own counsels,

³²For the apostasy of the gullible will kill them,

And the disregard of fools will destroy them.

³³But he who hears me will dwell in security

And will be sheltered from fear of harm.”