Proverbs 1-3

Proverbs 1

¹The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

²To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:

³To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:

⁴To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:

⁵(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)

⁶To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.

⁸My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:

⁹For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.

¹¹If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;

¹²Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;

¹³Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;

¹⁴Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:

¹⁵My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:

¹⁶For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.

¹⁷Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:

¹⁸And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.

¹⁹Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;

²¹Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:

²²How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?

²³Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.

²⁴Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;

²⁵You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:

²⁶So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;

²⁷When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.

²⁸Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:

²⁹For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:

³⁰They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.

³¹So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.

³²For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.

³³But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.

Proverbs 2

¹My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

²So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;

³Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

⁴If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;

⁵Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:

⁷He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;

⁸He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him.

⁹Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.

¹⁰For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;

¹¹Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

¹²Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;

¹³Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;

¹⁴Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner;

¹⁵Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:

¹⁶To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue;

¹⁷Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

¹⁸For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:

¹⁹Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:

²⁰So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.

²¹For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.

²²But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.

Proverbs 3

¹My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart:

²For they will give you increase of days, years of life, and peace.

³Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart;

⁴So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men.

⁵Put all your hope in God, not looking to your reason for support.

⁶In all your ways give ear to him, and he will make straight your footsteps.

⁷Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:

⁸This will give strength to your flesh, and new life to your bones.

⁹Give honour to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first-fruits of all your increase:

¹⁰So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:

¹²For to those who are dear to him the Lord says sharp words, and makes the son in whom he has delight undergo pain.

¹³Happy is the man who makes discovery of wisdom, and he who gets knowledge.

¹⁴For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold.

¹⁵She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand, and in her left are wealth and honour.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of delight, and all her goings are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.

¹⁹The Lord by wisdom put in position the bases of the earth; by reason he put the heavens in their place.

²⁰By his knowledge the deep was parted, and dew came dropping from the skies.

²¹My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.

²²So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck.

²³Then you will go safely on your way, and your feet will have no cause for slipping.

²⁴When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.

²⁵Have no fear of sudden danger, or of the storm which will come on evil-doers:

²⁶For the Lord will be your hope, and will keep your foot from being taken in the net.

²⁷Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

²⁸Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.

²⁹Do not make evil designs against your neighbour, when he is living with you without fear.

³⁰Do not take up a cause at law against a man for nothing, if he has done you no wrong.

³¹Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.

³²For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

³³The curse of the Lord is on the house of the evil-doer, but his blessing is on the tent of the upright.

³⁴He makes sport of the men of pride, but he gives grace to the gentle-hearted.

³⁵The wise will have glory for their heritage, but shame will be the reward of the foolish.