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Proverbs 1
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction;
To discern the words of understanding;
3 To receive instruction in wise dealing,
In righteousness and justice and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion:
5 That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning;
And that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and a figure,
The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;
But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And forsake not the law of your mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace to your head,
And chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Consent not.
11 If they say,
Come with us,
Let us lay wait for blood;
Let us lurk privately for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,
And whole, as those that go down into the pit;
13 We shall find all precious substance;
We shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 You shall cast your lot among us;
We will all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not in the way with them;
Refrain your foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is the net spread
In the sight of any bird:
18 And these lay wait for their own blood;
They lurk privately for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;
It takes away the life of the owners of it.
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street;
She utters her voice in the broad places;
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse;
At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she utters her words:
22 How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof:
Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;
I will make known my words to you.
24 Because I have called, and you have refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man has regarded;
25 But you have rejected all my counsel,
And would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;
I will mock when your fear comes;
27 When your fear comes as a storm,
And your calamity comes on 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 diligently, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of Yahweh
30 They would none of my counsel;
They despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall kill them,
And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me shall dwell securely,
And shall be quiet without fear of evil.
Proverbs 2
My son, if you will receive my words,
And lay up my commandments with you;
2 So as to incline your ear to wisdom.
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 For, if you cry after discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hid treasures:
5 Then shall you understand the fear of Yahweh.
And find the knowledge of Elohim.
6 For Yahweh gives wisdom;
Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding:
7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;
8 That he may guard the paths of justice,
And preserve the way of his saints.
9 Then shall you understand righteousness and justice,
And equity, yes, every good path.
10 For wisdom shall enter into your heart,
And knowledge shall be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion shall watch over you;
Understanding shall keep you:
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the men that speak perverse things;
13 Who forsake the paths of uprightness,
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil,
And delight in the perverseness of evil;
15 Who are crooked in their ways,
And wayward in their paths:
16 To deliver you from the strange woman,
Even from the foreigner that flatters with her words;
17 That forsakes the friend of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her Elohim:
18 For her house inclines to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19 None that go to her return again,
Neither do they attain to the paths of life:
20 That you may walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land,
And the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land,
And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.
Proverbs 3
My son, forget not my law; But let your heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and years of life,
And peace, will they add to you.
3 Let not kindness and truth forsake you:
Bind them about your neck;
Write them upon the tablet of your heart:
4 So shall you find favor and good understanding
In the sight of Elohim and man.
5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart,
And lean not upon your own understanding:
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
And he will direct your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil:
8 It will be health to your navel,
And marrow to your bones.
9 Honor Yahweh with your substance,
And with the first-fruits of all your increase:
10 So shall your barns be filled with plenty,
And your vats shall overflow with new wine.
11 My son, despise not the chastening of Yahweh;
Neither be weary of his reproof:
12 For whom Yahweh loves he corrects;
Even as a father the son in whom he delights.
13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gets understanding.
14 For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver,
And the profit of it than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies:
And none of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:
And happy is every one that retains her.
19 Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding he established the heavens.
20 By his knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the skies drop down the dew.
21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
22 So shall they be life to your soul,
And grace to your neck.
23 Then shall you walk in your way securely,
And your foot shall not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you shall not be afraid:
Yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.
25 Be not afraid of sudden fear,
Neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:
26 For Yahweh will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being taken.
27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of your hand to do it.
28 Say not to your neighbor, Go, and come again,
And tomorrow I will give;
When you have it by you.
29 Devise not evil against your neighbor,
Since he dwells securely by you.
30 Contend not with a man without cause.
If he has done you no harm.
31 Envy not the man of violence,
And choose none of his ways.
32 For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh;
But his friendship is with the upright.
33 The curse of Yahweh is in the house of the wicked;
But he blesses the habitation of the righteous.
34 Surely he scoffs at the scoffers;
But he gives grace to the lowly.
35 The wise shall inherit glory;
But shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Proverbs 4
Hear, my sons, the instruction of a father,
And attend to know understanding:
2 For I give you good doctrine:
Forsake not my law.
3 For I was a son to my father,
Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 And he taught me, and said to me;
Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commandments, and live;
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth;
6 Forsake her not, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom;
And, with all your getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.
9 She will give to your head a wreath of grace;
A crown of beauty will she deliver to you.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;
And the years of your life shall be many.
11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in paths of uprightness.
12 When you go, your steps shall not be narrowed;
And if you run, you shall not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go:
Keep her; for she is your life.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked,
And walk not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it;
Turn from it, and pass on.
16 For they sleep not, except they do evil;
And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light,
That shines more and more to the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness:
They know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the middle of your heart.
22 For they are life to those that find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence;
For out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a wayward mouth,
And perverse lips put far from you.
25 Let your eyes look right on,
And let your eyelids look straight before you.
26 Make level the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
Remove your foot from evil.
