06/02/2026
Proverbs 1
*The Beginning of Knowledge*
1-The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2-To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3-To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4-To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5A- wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6-To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7-The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
*Shun Evil Counsel*
8-My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
9-For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
10-My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11-If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12-Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13-We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14-Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15-My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16-For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17-Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
18-But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19-So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
*The Call of Wisdom*
20-Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
21-She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
22-How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
23-Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24-Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25-Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26-I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27-When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28-“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29-Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30-They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31-Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32-For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33-But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”