Proverbs 1:8–33

The Enticement of Sinners

[8] Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

[9] for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for your neck.

[10] My son, if sinners entice you,

do not consent.

[11] If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason;

[12] like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those 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, do not walk in the way with them;

hold back your foot from their paths,

[16] for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

[17] For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

[18] but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives.

[19] Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

[20] Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

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

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

[22] “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

[23] If you turn at my reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

[24] Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

[25] because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,

[26] I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you,

[27] when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

[28] Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

[29] Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

[30] would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof,

[31] therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices.

[32] For the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them;

[33] but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (ESV)