Proverbs 1 · משלי

The proverbs of Shelomo the son of David, king of Yisra᾽el;

to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

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

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain to wise counsels:

to understand a proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and do not forsake the Tora of thy mother:

for they shall be a graceful garland for thy head, and chains about thy neck.

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

If they say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent without cause:

let us swallow them up alive like She᾽ol; and whole, like those who go down into the pit:

we shall find all precious goods; we shall fill our houses with spoil:

throw in thy lot among us; we shall all have one purse:

my son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain thy foot from their path:

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

For no heed is taken of the net which is spread in the sight of any bird.

And they lie in wait for their blood; they lurk for their lives.

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; it takes away the life of its owner.

Wisdom cries aloud in the street; she utters her voice in the squares:

she cries in the chief place of concourse, at the entrances of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying,

How long, you simple ones, will you love being simple? and how long, O scorners, will you delight in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

turn at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit to you, I will make known to you my words.

Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

but you have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes upon you;

when your fear comes like a storm, and your calamity comes like a tempest; when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they will not find me:

for they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:

they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

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

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the erring of fools shall destroy them.

But he who listens to me shall dwell safely, and shall be at ease without fear of evil.