Sprüche 1

¹THE PROVERBS of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
²To know wisdom and instruction; to comprehend the words of understanding;
³To receive the discipline of wisdom, justice, and right, and equity;
⁴To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion;
⁵That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning, and the man of understanding may attain unto wise counsels;
⁶To understand a proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and discipline.
⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;
⁹For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
¹¹If they say: 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent without cause;
¹²Let us swallow them up alive as the grave, 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; let us all have one purse'--
¹⁵My son, walk not thou in the way with them, restrain 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 eyes of any bird;
¹⁸And these lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk for their own lives.
¹⁹So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
²⁰Wisdom crieth aloud in the streets, she uttereth her voice in the broad places;
²¹She calleth at the head of the noisy streets, at the entrances of the gates, in the city, she uttereth her words:
²²'How long, ye thoughtless, will ye love thoughtlessness? And how long will scorners delight them in scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
²³Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man attended,
²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof;
²⁶I also, in your calamity, will laugh, I will mock when your dread cometh;
²⁷When your dread cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; when trouble and distress come upon you.
²⁸Then will they call me, but I will not answer, they will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me.
²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD;
³⁰They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof.
³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
³²For the waywardness of the thoughtless shall slay them, and the confidence of fools shall destroy them.
³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, and shall be quiet without fear of evil.'

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