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1:1  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
1:2  That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of insight,
1:3  receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity;
1:4  that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
1:5  the wise man also may hear and increase in learning, and the man of understanding acquire skill,
1:6  to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.
1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
1:8  Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and reject not your mother’s teaching;
1:9  for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck.
1:10  My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
1:11  If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
1:12  like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
1:13  we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with spoil;
1:14  throw in your lot among us, we will all have one purse”—
1:15  my son, do not walk in the way with them, hold back your foot from their paths;
1:16  for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
1:17  For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird;
1:18  but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they set an ambush for their own lives.
1:19  Such are the ways of all who get gain by violence; it takes away the life of its possessors.
1:20  Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the markets she raises her voice;
1:21  on the top of the walls she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
1:22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
1:23  Give heed to my reproof; behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.
1:24  Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
1:25  and you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
1:26  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you,
1:27  when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
1:28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
1:29  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
1:30  would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
1:31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.
1:32  For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacence of fools destroys them;
1:33  but he who listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of evil.”