Proverbs 1 (NASB)

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

² To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,

³ To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;

⁴ To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,

⁵ A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

⁶ To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching;

⁹ Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

¹¹ If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

¹³ We will find all [kinds] of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,"

¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,

¹⁶ For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood.

¹⁷ Indeed, it is useless to spread the [baited] net In the sight of any bird;

¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square;

²¹ At the head of the noisy [streets] she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

²² "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

²³ "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴ "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

²⁵ And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;

²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,

²⁷ When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

²⁹ Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

³⁰ "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.

³¹ "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices.

³² "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³ "But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil."

Old Testament