Proverbs 1-3

Proverbs 1

¹Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness and judgment, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

⁵He that is wise will hear, and will increase learning; and the intelligent will gain wise counsels:

⁶to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

⁷The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;

⁹for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.

¹¹If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

¹⁴cast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse:

¹⁵-- my son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path;

¹⁶for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.

¹⁸And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom crieth without; she raiseth her voice in the broadways;

²¹she calleth in the chief place of concourse, in the entry of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words:

²²How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge?

²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.

²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;

²⁵and ye have rejected all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

²⁶I also will laugh in your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;

²⁷when your fear cometh as sudden destruction, and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you:

²⁸-- then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, and shall not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;

³⁰they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof:

³¹therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices.

³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the foolish shall cause them to perish.

³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from fear of evil.

Proverbs 2

¹My son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee,

²so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and thou apply thy heart to understanding;

³yea, if thou criest after discernment and liftest up thy voice to understanding;

⁴if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

⁸guarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones.

⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul,

¹¹discretion shall keep thee, understanding shall preserve thee:

¹²To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the man that speaketh froward things;

¹³from those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

¹⁵whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course:

¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words;

¹⁷who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God;

¹⁸-- for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead;

¹⁹none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰-- that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it;

²²but the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it.

Proverbs 3

¹My son, forget not my teaching, and let thy heart observe my commandments;

²for length of days, and years of life, and peace shall they add to thee.

³Let not loving-kindness and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thy heart:

⁴and thou shalt find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

⁵Confide in Jehovah with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own intelligence;

⁶in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make plain thy paths.

⁷Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:

⁸it shall be health for thy navel, and moisture for thy bones.

⁹Honour Jehovah with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase;

¹⁰so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, despise not the instruction of Jehovah, neither be weary of his chastisement;

¹²for whom Jehovah loveth he chasteneth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

¹³Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

¹⁴For the gain thereof is better than the gain of silver, and her revenue than fine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not equal unto her.

¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand; in her left hand riches and honour.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is he that retaineth her.

¹⁹Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.

²⁰By his knowledge the deeps were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.

²¹My son, let them not depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion:

²²so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace unto thy neck.

²³Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, and thy foot shall not stumble;

²⁴when thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid, but thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet.

²⁵Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the destruction of the wicked, when it cometh;

²⁶for Jehovah shall be thy confidence, and he will keep thy foot from being taken.

²⁷Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.

²⁸Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it by thee.

²⁹Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

³⁰Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

³¹Envy not the man of violence, and choose none of his ways.

³²For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; but his secret is with the upright.

³³The curse of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked; but he blesseth the habitation of the righteous.

³⁴He indeed scorneth the scorners; but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

³⁵The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of the foolish.