Proverbs 1

1 the proverbs of solomon the son of david, king of israel; 2 to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 to give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion 5 a wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels 6 to understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings 7 the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction 8 my son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother 9 for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck 10 my son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not 11 if they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause 12 let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit 13 we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil 14 cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse 15 my son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path 16 for their feet 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 wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives 19 so are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof 20 wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets 21 she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates in the city she uttereth her words, saying , 22 how long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools 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 24 because i have called, and ye refused; i have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof 26 i also will laugh at your calamity; i will mock when your fear cometh; 27 when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you 28 then shall they call upon me, but i will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me 29 for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the lord 30 they would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof 31 therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices 32 for the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them 33 but whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil