[[Psalm 150|<< Psalm 150]] | [[Proverbs|Proverbs]] | [[Proverbs 2|Proverbs 2 >>]] ### Proverbs 1 1 THE proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; ^1 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; ^2 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; ^3 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. ^4 5 A wise _man_ will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: ^5 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. ^6 7 ¶ The fear of the LORD _is_ the beginning of knowledge: _but_ fools despise wisdom and instruction. ^7 8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: ^8 9 For they _shall_ _be_ an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. ^9 10 ¶ My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. ^10 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: ^11 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: ^12 13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: ^13 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: ^14 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: ^15 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. ^16 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. ^17 18 And they lay wait for their _own_ blood; they lurk privily for their _own_ lives. ^18 19 So _are_ the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; _which_ takes away the life of the owners thereof. ^19 20 ¶ Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets: ^20 21 She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, _saying_, ^21 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? ^22 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. ^23 24 ¶ Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; ^24 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: ^25 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes; ^26 27 When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish comes upon you. ^27 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: ^28 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: ^29 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. ^30 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. ^31 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. ^32 33 But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. ^33