1  THE PROVERBS of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2  To know wisdom and instruction; to comprehend the words of understanding;

2  in order to know wisdom and discipline,

3  To receive the discipline of wisdom, justice, and right, and equity;

3  to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgement;

3  to understand words of prudence, and to accept the instruction of doctrine, justice and judgment, and equity,

4  To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion;

4  that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.

4  so as to give discernment to little ones, knowledge and understanding to adolescents.

5  That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning, and the man of understanding may attain unto wise counsels;

5  By listening, the wise shall become wiser and the intelligent shall possess governments.

6  To understand a proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

6  and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.

6  He shall turn his soul to a parable and to its interpretation, to the words of the wise and their enigmas.

7  The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and discipline.

7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction.

7  The reverence of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise knowledge and instruction.

8  Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;

8  Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother,

9  For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

9  For thou shalt receive for thine head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round thy neck.

9  so that grace may be added to your head and a collar to your neck.

10  My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

10  My son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou to them.

11  If they say: 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent without cause;

11  If they should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth

11  If they should say: “Come with us. We will lie in wait for blood. We will lay traps against the innocent, without cause.

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

12  and let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, and remove the memorial of him from the earth

12  Let us swallow him alive, like Hell, and whole, like one descending into the pit.

13  We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil;

13  let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils

13  We will discover every precious substance. We will fill our houses with spoils.

14  Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse'--

14  but do thou cast in thy lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch

14  Cast your lot with us. One purse will be for us all.”

15  My son, walk not thou in the way with them, restrain thy foot from their path;

15  go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths

15  My son, do not walk with them. Preclude your feet from their paths.

16  For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

17  For in vain the net is spread in the eyes of any bird;

17  for nets are not without cause spread for birds.

18  And these lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk for their own lives.

18  For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.

18  Likewise, they lie in ambush against their own blood, and they undertake deceits against their own souls.

19  So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

19  These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.

19  Thus, the ways of all those who are greedy seize the souls of those who possess.

20  Wisdom crieth aloud in the streets, she uttereth her voice in the broad places;

20  Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.

20  Wisdom forewarns far and wide; she bestows her voice in the streets.

21  She calleth at the head of the noisy streets, at the entrances of the gates, in the city, she uttereth her words

21  And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, and sits by the gates of princes; and at the gates of the city boldly says,

21  She preaches in the chief places of the concourse; in the openings of the gates of the city, she utters her words, saying,

22  'How long, ye thoughtless, will ye love thoughtlessness? And how long will scorners delight them in scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

22  So long as the simple cleave to justice, they shall not be ashamed: but the foolish being lovers of haughtiness, having become ungodly have hated knowledge, and are become subject to reproofs.

22  “Little ones, how long will you choose to be childish, and how long will the foolish desire what is harmful to themselves, and how long will the imprudent hate knowledge?

23  Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

23  Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.

23  Be converted by my correction. Lo, I will offer my spirit to you, and I will reveal my words to you.

24  Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man attended,

24  Since I called, and ye did not hearken; and I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;

24  For I called, and you refused. I extended my hand, and there was no one who watched.

25  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof;

25  You have despised all my counsels, and you have neglected my rebukes.

26  I also, in your calamity, will laugh, I will mock when your dread cometh;

26  therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against you when ruin comes upon you

26  Similarly, I will ridicule you at your demise, and I will mock you, when that which you feared shall overcome you.

27  When your dread cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; when trouble and distress come upon you.

27  yea when dismay suddenly comes upon you, and your overthrow shall arrive like a tempest; and when tribulation and distress shall come upon you, or when ruin shall come upon you.

28  Then will they call me, but I will not answer, they will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me.

28  For it shall be that when ye call upon me, I will not hearken to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find me.

29  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of YHWH;

29  For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord

29  Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the worship of the LORD.

30  They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof.

30  neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.

30  They were not pleased with my counsels; they rejected all of my reproof.

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

31  Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their way, and they shall have their fill of their own counsels.

32  For the waywardness of the thoughtless shall slay them, and the confidence of fools shall destroy them.

32  For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.

33  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, and shall be quiet without fear of evil.'

33  But whoever will listen to me shall rest without terror, and shall have full enjoyment of abundance, without fear of evils.”

33  But he who listens to me shall live in hope, and shall refrain from many evils.