¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: ²To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, ³To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; ⁴To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, ⁵A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, ⁶To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. ⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching; ⁹Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck. ¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. ¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; ¹²Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; ¹³We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil; ¹⁴Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse," ¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, ¹⁶For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. ¹⁷Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird; ¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. ¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors. ²⁰Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; ²¹At 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; ²⁵And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; ²⁶I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, ²⁷When 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, ²⁹Because 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."

If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;