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

    ² for attaining wisdom and discipline;
       for understanding words of insight;

    ³ for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
       doing what is right and just and fair;

    ⁴ for giving prudence to the simple,
       knowledge and discretion to the young-

    ⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
       and let the discerning get guidance-

    ⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
       the sayings and riddles of the wise.

    ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
       but fools¹ despise wisdom and discipline.

 

    ⁸ Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
       and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

    ⁹ They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

    ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

    ¹¹ If they say, "Come along with us;
                                       let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
                                       let's waylay some harmless soul;

                                         ¹² let's swallow them alive, like the grave,²
                                       and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

                                         ¹³ we will get all sorts of valuable things
                                       and fill our houses with plunder;

                                  ¹⁴ throw in your lot with us,
                                       and we will share a common purse"

    ¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,
                     do not set foot on their paths;

                 ¹⁶ for their feet rush into sin,
                     they are swift to shed blood.

    ¹⁷ How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!

    ¹⁸ These men lie in wait for their own blood;
                          they waylay only themselves!

    ¹⁹ Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
                          it takes away the lives of those who get it.

 

    ²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
       she raises her voice in the public squares;

    ²¹ at the head of the noisy streets³ she cries out,
       in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

    ²² "How long will you simple ones⁴ love your simple ways?
       How long will mockers delight in mockery
       and fools hate knowledge?

    ²³ If you had responded to my rebuke,
       I would have poured out my heart to you
       and made my thoughts known to you.

    ²⁴ But since you rejected me when I called
       and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

    ²⁵ since you ignored all my advice
       and would not accept my rebuke,

    ²⁶ I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
       I will mock when calamity overtakes you-

    ²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
       when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
       when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

    ²⁸ "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
       they will look for me but will not find me.

    ²⁹ Since they hated knowledge
       and did not choose to fear the LORD,

    ³⁰ since they would not accept my advice
       and spurned my rebuke,

    ³¹ they will eat the fruit of their ways
       and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

    ³² For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
       and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

    ³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety
       and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Footnotes:

1 verse 7  The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is morally deficient.
2 verse 12  Hebrew Sheol
3 verse 21  Hebrew; Septuagint / on the tops of the walls
4 verse 24  The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.