The Beginning of Knowledge

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

²To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

³to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

⁵Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

⁶to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

⁸Hear, my son, your father's instruction,

and forsake not your mother's teaching,

⁹for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for 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 reason;

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

¹⁵my son, do not walk in the way with them;

hold back your foot from their paths,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

¹⁸but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you turn at my reproof,1

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

²⁵because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

³⁰would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof,

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices.

³²For the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them;

³³but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

The Value of Wisdom

¹My son, if you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

²making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

³yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silver

and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

⁸guarding the paths of justice

and watching over the way of his saints.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

¹¹discretion will watch over you,

understanding will guard you,

¹²delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil

and delight in the perverseness of evil,

¹⁵men whose paths are crooked,

and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶So you will be delivered from the forbidden1 woman,

from the adulteress2 with her smooth words,

¹⁷who forsakes the companion of her youth

and forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸for her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the departed;3

¹⁹none who go to her come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will inhabit the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it,

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

¹My son, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments,

²for length of days and years of life

and peace they will add to you.

³Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good success1

in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your flesh2

and refreshment3 to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

¹²for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as a father the son in whom he delights.

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

¹³Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

and the one who gets understanding,

¹⁴for the gain from her is better than gain from silver

and her profit better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding he established the heavens;

²⁰by his knowledge the deeps broke open,

and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, do not lose sight of these—

keep sound wisdom and discretion,

²²and they will be life for your soul

and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will walk on your way securely,

and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴If you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden terror

or of the ruin4 of the wicked, when it comes,

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,5

when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

²⁹Do not plan evil against your neighbor,

who dwells trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways,

³²for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,

but the upright are in his confidence.

³³The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

³⁴Toward the scorners he is scornful,

but to the humble he gives favor.6

³⁵The wise will inherit honor,

but fools get7 disgrace.

A Father's Wise Instruction

¹Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,

and be attentive, that you may gain1 insight,

²for I give you good precepts;

do not forsake my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father,

tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

⁴he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

keep my commandments, and live.

⁵Get wisdom; get insight;

do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

love her, and she will guard you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight.

⁸Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a graceful garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my words,

that the years of your life may be many.

¹¹I have taught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

¹²When you walk, your step will not be hampered,

and if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;

guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of the evil.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Let them not escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them,

and healing to all their2 flesh.

²³Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

²⁶Ponder3 the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom;

incline your ear to my understanding,

²that you may keep discretion,

and your lips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of a forbidden1 woman drip honey,

and her speech2 is smoother than oil,

⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to3 Sheol;

⁶she does not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And now, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

¹¹and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

¹²and you say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

¹⁹a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated4 always in her love.

²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?5

²¹For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

and he ponders6 all his paths.

²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

²³He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.