2  To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

3  to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in ^brighteousness, justice, and equity;

4  to give prudence to ^cthe simple,

knowledge and ^ddiscretion to the youth—

5  Let the wise hear and ^eincrease in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6  to understand a proverb and a saying,

^fthe words of the wise and their ^griddles.

7  ^hThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8  ⁱHear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

9  for they are ^ja graceful garland for your head

and ^kpendants for your neck.

10  My son, if sinners ^lentice you,

do not consent.

11  If they say, “Come with us, ^mlet us lie in wait for blood;

ⁿlet us ambush the innocent without reason;

12  like Sheol let us ^oswallow them alive,

and whole, like ^pthose who go down to the pit;

13  we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

14  throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

15  my son, ^qdo not walk in the way with them;

^rhold back your foot from their paths,

16  for ^stheir feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

17  ^tFor in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

18  but these men ^ulie in wait for their own blood;

they ^uset an ambush for their own lives.

19  ^vSuch are the ways of everyone who is ^wgreedy for unjust gain;

^xit takes away the life of its possessors.

20  ^yWisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at ^zthe entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22  “How long, O ^asimple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will ^bscoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools ^chate knowledge?

23  If you turn at my reproof,¹

behold, I will ^dpour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

24  ^eBecause I have called and ^fyou refused to listen,

have ^gstretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

25  because you have ^hignored all my counsel

and ⁱwould have none of my reproof,

26  I also ^jwill laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when ^kterror strikes you,

27  when terror strikes you like ^la storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

28  ^mThen they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

29  Because they ^chated knowledge

and ⁿdid not choose the fear of the Lord,

30  ^hwould have none of my counsel

and ⁱdespised all my reproof,

31  therefore they shall eat ^othe fruit of their way,

and have ^ptheir fill of their own devices.

32  For the simple are killed by ^qtheir turning away,

and ^rthe complacency of fools destroys them;

33  but ^swhoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be ^tat ease, without dread of disaster.”

2  ^uMy son, ^vif you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

2  making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

3  yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice ^wfor understanding,

4  if you seek it like ^xsilver

and search for it as for ^yhidden treasures,

5  then ^zyou will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

6  For ^athe Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is ^ba shield to those who ^cwalk in integrity,

8  guarding the paths of justice

and ^dwatching over the way of his ^esaints.

9  ^fThen you will understand ^grighteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

10  for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11  ^hdiscretion will ⁱwatch over you,

understanding will guard you,

12  delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

13  who forsake the paths of uprightness

to ^jwalk in the ways of darkness,

14  who ^krejoice in doing evil

and ^ldelight in the perverseness of evil,

15  men whose ^mpaths are crooked,

ⁿand who are ^odevious in their ways.

16  So ^pyou will be delivered from the forbidden¹ woman,

from ^qthe adulteress² with ^rher smooth words,

17  who forsakes ^sthe companion of her youth

and forgets ^tthe covenant of her God;

18  ^ufor her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the departed;³

19  none who go to her come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

20  So you will walk in the way of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21  For the upright ^vwill inhabit the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it,

22  but the wicked will be ^wcut off from the land,

and the treacherous will be ^xrooted out of it.

3  ^yMy son, do not forget my teaching,

^zbut let your heart keep my commandments,

2  for ^alength of days and years of life

and ^bpeace they will add to you.

3  Let not ^csteadfast love and ^dfaithfulness forsake you;

^ebind them around your neck;

^fwrite them on the tablet of your heart.

4  So you will ^gfind favor and ^hgood success¹

in the sight of God and man.

5  ⁱTrust in the Lord with all your heart,

and ^jdo not lean on your own understanding.

6  In all your ways ^kacknowledge him,

and he ^lwill make straight your paths.

7  ^mBe not wise in your own eyes;

ⁿfear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

8  It will be ^ohealing to your flesh²

and ^prefreshment³ to your bones.

9  Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with ^qthe firstfruits of all your produce;

10  then your ^rbarns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

11  ^sMy son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

12  for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as ^ta father the son in whom he delights.

13  ^uBlessed is the one who finds wisdom,

and the one who gets understanding,

14  ^vfor the gain from her is better than gain from silver

and her profit better than ^wgold.

15  She is more precious than ^xjewels,

and ^ynothing you desire can compare with her.

16  ^zLong life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are ^ariches and honor.

17  Her ^bways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

18  She is ^ca tree of life to those who ^dlay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called blessed.

19  ^eThe Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding ^ehe established the heavens;

20  by his knowledge ^fthe deeps broke open,

and ^gthe clouds drop down the dew.

21  My son, ^hdo not lose sight of these—

keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22  and they will be ⁱlife for your soul

and ^jadornment for your neck.

23  ^kThen you will walk on your way securely,

^land your foot will not stumble.

24  ^mIf you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, ⁿyour sleep will be sweet.

25  ^oDo not be afraid of sudden terror

or of ^pthe ruin⁴ of the wicked, when it comes,

26  for the Lord will be your confidence

and will ^qkeep your foot from being caught.

27  ^rDo not withhold good from those to whom it is due,⁵

when it is in your power to do it.

28  ^sDo not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

29  ^tDo not plan evil against your neighbor,

who ^udwells trustingly beside you.

30  ^vDo not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

31  ^wDo not envy ^xa man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways,

32  for ^ythe devious person is an abomination to the Lord,

but the upright are ^zin his confidence.

33  ^aThe Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he ^bblesses the dwelling of the righteous.

34  Toward the ^cscorners he ^dis scornful,

^ebut to the humble he gives favor.⁶

35  The wise will inherit honor,

but fools get⁷ disgrace.

4  ^fHear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

and be attentive, that you may ^ggain¹ insight,

2  for I give you good ^hprecepts;

do not forsake my teaching.

3  When I was a son with my father,

ⁱtender, ^jthe only one in the sight of my mother,

4  he ^ktaught me and said to me,

^l“Let your heart hold fast my words;

^mkeep my commandments, and live.

5  ⁿGet wisdom; get ^ginsight;

do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

6  Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

^olove her, and she will guard you.

7  ^pThe beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get ^ginsight.

8  Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will ^qhonor you ^rif you embrace her.

9  She will place on your head ^sa graceful garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

10  ^fHear, ^tmy son, and accept my words,

that ^uthe years of your life may be many.

11  I have ^vtaught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

12  When you walk, ^wyour step will not be hampered,

and ^xif you run, you will not stumble.

13  ^yKeep hold of instruction; do not let go;

guard her, for she is your ^zlife.

14  ^aDo not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of the evil.

15  Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on.

16  For they ^bcannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

17  For they eat the bread of wickedness

^cand drink the wine of violence.

18  But ^dthe path of the righteous is like ^ethe light of dawn,

which shines ^fbrighter and brighter until ^gfull day.

19  ^hThe way of the wicked is like deep ⁱdarkness;

they do not know over what they ^jstumble.

20  ^kMy son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

21  ^lLet them not escape from your sight;

^mkeep them within your heart.

22  For they are ⁿlife to those who find them,

and healing to all their² flesh.

23  Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for ^ofrom it flow ^pthe springs of life.

24  Put away from you ^qcrooked speech,

and put ^rdevious talk far from you.

25  ^sLet your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

26  ^tPonder³ the path of your feet;

^uthen all your ways will be sure.

27  ^vDo not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

5  ^wMy son, be attentive to my wisdom;

^xincline your ear to my understanding,

2  that you may keep ^ydiscretion,

and your lips may ^zguard knowledge.

3  For the lips of ^aa forbidden¹ woman drip honey,

and her speech² is ^bsmoother than oil,

4  but in the end she is ^cbitter as ^dwormwood,

^esharp as ^fa two-edged sword.

5  Her feet ^ggo down to death;

her steps follow the path to³ Sheol;

6  she ^hdoes not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7  And ⁱnow, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8  Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

9  lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

10  lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your ^jlabors go to the house of a foreigner,

11  and at the end of your life you ^kgroan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12  and you say, ^l“How I hated discipline,

and my heart ^mdespised reproof!

13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

14  ⁿI am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

15  Drink ^owater from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

16  Should your ^psprings be scattered abroad,

streams of water ^qin the streets?

17  ^rLet them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

18  Let your ^ofountain be blessed,

and ^srejoice in ^tthe wife of your youth,

19  a lovely ^udeer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts ^vfill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated⁴ always in her love.

20  Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^wa forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of ^wan adulteress?⁵

21  For ^xa man’s ways are ^ybefore the eyes of the Lord,

and he ^zponders⁶ all his paths.

22  The ^ainiquities of the wicked ^bensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

23  ^cHe dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is ^dled astray.