AFV2020 - Proverbs - 1

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

1:2  To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

1:3  To receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness, and judgment, and equity;

1:4  To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man.

1:5  A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel

1:6  To understand a proverb and its interpretation, the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

1:8  My son, hear the instruction of your father and forsake not the law of your mother,

1:9  For they shall be an ornament of grace to your head and chains around your neck.

1:10  My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

1:11  If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; we will watch secretly for the innocent without cause;

1:12  Let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those who go down into the pit;

1:13  We shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with plunder;

1:14  Cast in your lot among us, and let us have one purse."

1:15  My son, do not walk in the way with them! Keep back your foot from their path,

1:16  For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood.

1:17  Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird,

1:18  But they lie in wait for their own blood; they watch secretly for their own lives.

1:19  So are the ways of everyone who gets gain by violence, who takes away the life of its owners.

1:20  Wisdom cries outside; she utters her voice in the streets;

1:21  She cries in the chief place of gathering, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying,

1:22  "How long will you love simplicity, simple ones? And will scorners delight in their scorning? And will fools hate knowledge?

1:23  Turn back at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

1:24  Because I called, and you refused to hearken, I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention;

1:25  But you have despised all my counsel and would have none of my reproof.

1:26  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes;

1:27  When your calamity comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and pain come upon you,

1:28  Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.

1:29  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

1:30  They would have none of my counsel; they despised all my correction.

1:31  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.

1:32  For the waywardness of the simple shall slay them, and the complacency of fools destroys them.

1:33  But whoever hearkens to me shall dwell safely and shall be secure without fear of harm."