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1:1  The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David king of Israel:
1:2  Designed to enable people to appreciate wisdom and discipline and to comprehend words that foster insight,
1:3  to acquire instruction in upright conduct, righteousness, justice, and honesty,
1:4  so that prudence may be imparted to the simple, and the young may gain knowledge and discretion.
1:5  By listening to them the wise will add to their learning, and those gifted with discernment will increase their ability
1:6  to perceive the meaning of proverbs and obscure sayings, the words of the sages and their riddles.
1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools are those who despise wisdom and instruction.
1:8  Give heed, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.
1:9  They will be a crown of grace for your head and a pendant of honor for your neck.
1:10  My son, if sinners try to entice you, refuse to join them.
1:11  They may say, “Come and join us as we lie in ambush to shed someone’s blood; let us waylay some innocent man;
1:12  like the netherworld we can swallow him alive, in his prime like those who go down to the pit.
1:13  We will discover riches of every sort with which we can fill our houses;
1:14  so throw in your lot with us and share in the common purse.”
1:15  My son, do not accompany them! Do not allow your feet to follow their path!
1:16  For their feet are rushing headlong to evil; they are hastening to shed blood.
1:17  It is useless to spread a net if the bird is watching.
1:18  These men lie in wait for their own blood and set an ambush against themselves.
1:19  Such is the fate of all who seek ill-gotten gain; such greed takes away the life of those who acquire it.
1:20  Wisdom cries out in the street; she raises her voice in the public squares.
1:21  She calls out on the crowded street corners; at the city gates she proclaims her message:
1:22  “How long will you simple people continue to be fools? How long will you mockers delight in your mocking? How long will you fools continue to hate knowledge?
1:23  If you would seriously consider my reproof, I would pour out my thoughts to you and make my precepts known to you.
1:24  “However, because you refused to listen to my call, because no one heeded when I stretched out my hand,
1:25  and because you rejected all my counsel and ignored all my warnings,
1:26  I in my turn will laugh at your distress and mock you when panic overwhelms you,
1:27  when terror suddenly strikes you like a hurricane and your doom approaches like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
1:28  “Then they will cry out to me but I will not answer; they will search for me, but not find me.
1:29  For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.
1:30  They refused to accept my advice and spurned all my warnings.
1:31  “Now they must eat the fruits of their conduct and be glutted with the results of their schemes.
1:32  For the stubbornness of the simple kills them; fools come to final ruin by their own complacency.
1:33  But whoever listens to me will be secure and live in peace, without fear of disaster.”