NRSV Proverbs 1 Chapter
1:1
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
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For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight,
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for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity;
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to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young--
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Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill,
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to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.
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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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Hear, my child, your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teaching;
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for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck.
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My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
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If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
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like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
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We shall find all kinds of costly things; we shall fill our houses with booty.
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Throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse"--
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my child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot from their paths;
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for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood.
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For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on;
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yet they lie in wait-- to kill themselves! and set an ambush-- for their own lives!
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Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
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Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.
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At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
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"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
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Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.
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Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
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and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
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I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you,
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when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
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Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
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Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
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would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
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therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.
1:32
For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them;
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but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster."