THE
PROVERBS
Proverbs 1 ©
Of the profit and utility of these proverbs, verse 1, etc. The duty of the children to their parents, 8. An admonition to beware of the company of the wicked, 10. The eternal Wisdom Itself brought in, complaining that She is despised, exhorting to repentance, and threatening everlasting destruction to all disobedient ones, and promising assured happiness to the obedient, 20.
THE 1proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
To know 2wisdom and 3instruction; to perceive the 4words 5of understanding;
To receive the instruction of 6wisdom, 7justice, and 8judgment, and 9equity;
To give 10subtiltya to the 11simple, to the 12young man 13knowledge and 14discretion.
A wise man will hear, and will increase 15learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto 16wise counsels:
To understand a 17proverb, and 18the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark 19sayings.
¶Theb fear of the LORD is the 20beginning of knowledge: but 21fools despise wisdom and instruction.
22My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the 23law of thy mother:
For they shall be 24an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy 25neck.
¶My son, if 26sinners 27entice thee, consentc thou not.
If they say, Come with us, let us 28lay wait for blood, let us 29lurk privily for the innocent 30without cause:
Let us swallow them up 31alive 32as the grave; and whole, as 33those that go down into the pit:
We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
Cast in 34thy lot among us; 35let us all have one purse:
My son, 36walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy 37foot from their path:
For their feetd run 38to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
Surely 39in vain 40the net is spread in the sight of 41any bird.
And 42they lay wait for their own blood; they 43lurk privily for their own lives.
So are the 44ways of every one that is 45greedy of gain; 46which 47taketh away the life 48of the owners thereof.
¶ 49Wisdom 50crieth without; she 51uttereth her voice in the streets:
She crieth 52in the chief place of concourse,e in the openings 53of the gates: in the 54city she uttereth her words, saying,
How long, 55ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and 56the scorners delight in their scorning, and 57fools hate knowledge?
58Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will 59pour out 60my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
¶Because I have called,f and ye refused; I have 61stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
But ye have 62set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your 63fear cometh;
When your fear comethg as 64desolation, and your destruction cometh 65as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me 66early, but they shall not find me:
For that they hated 67knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
68Therefore shall they 69eat of the 70fruit of their own way, and 71be filled with their own devices.
For the 72turning away of the simple 73shall slay them, and the 74prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell 75safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.