Proverbs 2:1--9:18

Benefits of Seeking Wisdom

2:1 My child, if you receive my words,

and store up my commands within you,

2:2 by making your ear attentive to wisdom,

and by turning your heart to understanding,

2:3 indeed, if you call out for discernment –

raise your voice for understanding –

2:4 if you seek it like silver,

and search for it like hidden treasure,

2:5 then you will understand how to fear the Lord,

and you will discover knowledge about God.

2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,

and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

2:7 He stores up effective counsel for the upright,

and is like a shield for those who live with integrity,

2:8 to guard the paths of the righteous

and to protect the way of his pious ones.

2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity – every good way.

2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.

2:11 Discretion will protect you,

understanding will guard you,

2:12 to deliver you from the way of the wicked,

from those speaking perversity,

2:13 who leave the upright paths

to walk on the dark ways,

2:14 who delight in doing evil,

they rejoice in perverse evil;

2:15 whose paths are morally crooked,

and who are devious in their ways;

2:16 to deliver you from the adulteress,

from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words;

2:17 who leaves the husband from her younger days,

and forgets her marriage covenant made before God.

2:18 For her house sinks down to death,

and her paths lead to the place of the departed spirits.

2:19 None who go in to her will return,

nor will they reach the paths of life.

2:20 So you will walk in the way of good people,

and will keep on the paths of the righteous.

2:21 For the upright will reside in the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it,

2:22 but the wicked will be removed from the land,

and the treacherous will be torn away from it.

Exhortations to Seek Wisdom and Walk with the Lord

3:1 My child, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments,

3:2 for they will provide a long and full life,

and they will add well-being to you.

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

3:4 Then you will find favor and good understanding,

in the sight of God and people.

3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own understanding.

3:6 Acknowledge him in all your ways,

and he will make your paths straight.

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation;

fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

3:8 This will bring healing to your body,

and refreshment to your inner self.

3:9 Honor the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops;

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely,

and your vats will overflow with new wine.

3:11 My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord,

and do not loathe his rebuke.

3:12 For the Lord disciplines those he loves,

just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

Blessings of Obtaining Wisdom

3:13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

and the one who obtains understanding.

3:14 For her benefit is more profitable than silver,

and her gain is better than gold.

3:15 She is more precious than rubies,

and none of the things you desire can compare with her.

3:16 Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

3:17 Her ways are very pleasant,

and all her paths are peaceful.

3:18 She is like a tree of life to those who obtain her,

and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed.

3:19 By wisdom the Lord laid the foundation of the earth;

he established the heavens by understanding.

3:20 By his knowledge the primordial sea was broken open,

and the clouds drip down dew.

3:21 My child, do not let them escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion.

3:22 So they will give life to you,

and grace to adorn your neck.

3:23 Then you will walk on your way with security,

and you will not stumble.

3:24 When you lie down you will not be filled with fear;

when you lie down your sleep will be pleasant.

3:25 You will not be afraid of sudden disaster,

or when destruction overtakes the wicked;

3:26 for the Lord will be the source of your confidence,

and he will guard your foot from being caught in a trap.

Wisdom Demonstrated in Relationships with People

3:27 Do not withhold good from those who need it,

when you have the ability to help.

3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go! Return tomorrow

and I will give it,” when you have it with you at the time.

3:29 Do not plot evil against your neighbor

when he dwells by you unsuspectingly.

3:30 Do not accuse anyone without legitimate cause,

if he has not treated you wrongly.

3:31 Do not envy a violent man,

and do not choose to imitate any of his ways;

3:32 for one who goes astray is an abomination to the Lord,

but he reveals his intimate counsel to the upright.

3:33 The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,

but he blesses the home of the righteous.

3:34 Although he is scornful to arrogant scoffers,

yet he shows favor to the humble.

3:35 The wise inherit honor,

but he holds fools up to public contempt.

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness

4:1 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,

and pay attention so that you may gain discernment.

4:2 Because I give you good instruction,

do not forsake my teaching.

4:3 When I was a son to my father,

a tender only child before my mother,

4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:

“Let your heart lay hold of my words;

keep my commands so that you will live.

4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;

do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak.

4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;

love her, and she will guard you.

4:7 Wisdom is supreme – so acquire wisdom,

and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!

4:8 Esteem her highly and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her.

4:9 She will place a fair garland on your head;

she will bestow a beautiful crown on you.”

4:10 Listen, my child, and accept my words,

so that the years of your life will be many.

4:11 I will guide you in the way of wisdom

and I will lead you in upright paths.

4:12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered,

and when you run, you will not stumble.

4:13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;

protect it, because it is your life.

4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

or walk in the way of those who are evil.

4:15 Avoid it, do not go on it;

turn away from it, and go on.

4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm;

they are robbed of sleep until they make someone stumble.

4:17 For they eat bread gained from wickedness

and drink wine obtained from violence.

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light,

growing brighter and brighter until full day.

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness;

they do not know what causes them to stumble.

4:20 My child, pay attention to my words;

listen attentively to my sayings.

4:21 Do not let them depart from your sight,

guard them within your heart;

4:22 for they are life to those who find them

and healing to one’s entire body.

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance,

for from it are the sources of life.

4:24 Remove perverse speech from your mouth;

keep devious talk far from your lips.

4:25 Let your eyes look directly in front of you

and let your gaze look straight before you.

4:26 Make the path for your feet level,

so that all your ways may be established.

4:27 Do not turn to the right or to the left;

turn yourself away from evil.

Admonition to Avoid Seduction to Evil

5:1 My child, be attentive to my wisdom,

pay close attention to my understanding,

5:2 in order to safeguard discretion,

and that your lips may guard knowledge.

5:3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil,

5:4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

5:5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

5:6 Lest she should make level the path leading to life,

her paths are unstable but she does not know it.

5:7 So now, children, listen to me;

do not turn aside from the words I speak.

5:8 Keep yourself far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

5:9 lest you give your vigor to others

and your years to a cruel person,

5:10 lest strangers devour your strength,

and your labor benefit another man’s house.

5:11 And at the end of your life you will groan

when your flesh and your body are wasted away.

5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline!

My heart spurned reproof!

5:13 For I did not obey my teachers

and I did not heed my instructors.

5:14 I almost came to complete ruin

in the midst of the whole congregation!”

5:15 Drink water from your own cistern

and running water from your own well.

5:16 Should your springs be dispersed outside,

your streams of water in the wide plazas?

5:17 Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

5:18 May your fountain be blessed,

and may you rejoice in your young wife –

5:19 a loving doe, a graceful deer;

may her breasts satisfy you at all times,

may you be captivated by her love always.

5:20 But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman?

5:21 For the ways of a person are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord weighs all that person’s paths.

5:22 The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities,

and he will be held by the cords of his own sin.

5:23 He will die because there was no discipline;

because of the greatness of his folly he will reel.

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts

6:1 My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor,

and have become a guarantor for a stranger,

6:2 if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered,

and have been caught by the words you have spoken,

6:3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,

because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:

go, humble yourself,

and appeal firmly to your neighbor.

6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes

or slumber to your eyelids.

6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,

and like a bird from the trap of the fowler.

6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;

observe its ways and be wise!

6:7 It has no commander,

overseer, or ruler,

6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;

it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.

6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep?

6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax,

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber,

and your need like an armed man.

6:12 A worthless and wicked person

walks around saying perverse things;

6:13 he winks with his eyes,

signals with his feet,

and points with his fingers;

6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,

he spreads contention at all times.

6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;

in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

even seven things that are an abomination to him:

6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that are swift to run to evil,

6:19 a false witness who pours out lies,

and a person who spreads discord among family members.

6:20 My child, guard the commands of your father

and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

6:21 Bind them on your heart continually;

fasten them around your neck.

6:22 When you walk about, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, they will talk to you.

6:23 For the commandments are like a lamp,

instruction is like a light,

and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,

6:24 by keeping you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.

6:25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty,

and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;

6:26 for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,

but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.

6:27 Can a man hold fire against his chest

without burning his clothes?

6:28 Can a man walk on hot coals

without scorching his feet?

6:29 So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor’s wife;

no one who touches her will escape punishment.

6:30 People do not despise a thief when he steals

to fulfill his need when he is hungry.

6:31 Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over,

he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,

whoever does it destroys his own life.

6:33 He will be beaten and despised,

and his reproach will not be wiped away;

6:34 for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage,

and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.

6:35 He will not consider any compensation;

he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress

7:1 My child, keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.

7:2 Keep my commands so that you may live,

and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.

7:3 Bind them on your forearm;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call understanding a close relative,

7:5 so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.

7:6 For at the window of my house

through my window lattice I looked out

7:7 and I saw among the naive –

I discerned among the youths –

a young man who lacked wisdom.

7:8 He was passing by the street near her corner,

making his way along the road to her house

7:9 in the twilight, the evening,

in the dark of the night.

7:10 Suddenly a woman came out to meet him!

She was dressed like a prostitute and with secret intent.

7:11 (She is loud and rebellious,

she does not remain at home –

7:12 at one time outside, at another in the wide plazas,

and by every corner she lies in wait.)

7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,

and with a bold expression she said to him,

7:14 “I have fresh meat at home;

today I have fulfilled my vows!

7:15 That is why I came out to meet you,

to look for you, and I found you!

7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings,

with richly colored fabric from Egypt.

7:17 I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning,

let’s delight ourselves with sexual intercourse.

7:19 For my husband is not at home;

he has gone on a journey of some distance.

7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him;

he will not return until the end of the month.”

7:21 She persuaded him with persuasive words;

with her smooth talk she compelled him.

7:22 Suddenly he went after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life.

7:24 So now, sons, listen to me,

and pay attention to the words I speak.

7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways –

do not wander into her pathways;

7:26 for she has brought down many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many.

7:27 Her house is the way to the grave,

going down to the chambers of death.

The Appeal of Wisdom

8:1 Does not wisdom call out?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

8:2 At the top of the elevated places along the way,

at the intersection of the paths she takes her stand;

8:3 beside the gates opening into the city,

at the entrance of the doorways she cries out:

8:4 “To you, O people, I call out,

and my voice calls to all mankind.

8:5 You who are naive, discern wisdom!

And you fools, understand discernment!

8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things,

and my lips will utter what is right.

8:7 For my mouth speaks truth,

and my lips hate wickedness.

8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;

there is nothing in them twisted or crooked.

8:9 All of them are clear to the discerning

and upright to those who find knowledge.

8:10 Receive my instruction rather than silver,

and knowledge rather than choice gold.

8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies,

and desirable things cannot be compared to her.

8:12 “I, wisdom, live with prudence,

and I find knowledge and discretion.

8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;

I hate arrogant pride and the evil way

and perverse utterances.

8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom belong to me;

I possess understanding and might.

8:15 Kings reign by means of me,

and potentates decree righteousness;

8:16 by me princes rule,

as well as nobles and all righteous judges.

8:17 I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

8:18 Riches and honor are with me,

long-lasting wealth and righteousness.

8:19 My fruit is better than the purest gold,

and what I produce is better than choice silver.

8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness,

in the pathway of justice,

8:21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,

and that I may fill their treasuries.

8:22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works,

before his deeds of long ago.

8:23 From eternity I was appointed,

from the beginning, from before the world existed.

8:24 When there were no deep oceans I was born,

when there were no springs overflowing with water;

8:25 before the mountains were set in place –

before the hills – I was born,

8:26 before he made the earth and its fields,

or the beginning of the dust of the world.

8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;

when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep,

8:28 when he established the clouds above,

when the fountains of the deep grew strong,

8:29 when he gave the sea his decree

that the waters should not pass over his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

8:30 then I was beside him as a master craftsman,

and I was his delight day by day,

rejoicing before him at all times,

8:31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth,

and delighting in its people.

8:32 “So now, children, listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

8:33 Listen to my instruction so that you may be wise,

and do not neglect it.

8:34 Blessed is the one who listens to me,

watching at my doors day by day,

waiting beside my doorway.

8:35 For the one who finds me finds life

and receives favor from the Lord.

8:36 But the one who does not find me brings harm to himself;

all who hate me love death.”

The Consequences of Accepting Wisdom or Folly

9:1 Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved out its seven pillars.

9:2 She has prepared her meat, she has mixed her wine;

she also has arranged her table.

9:3 She has sent out her female servants;

she calls out on the highest places of the city.

9:4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding.

9:5 “Come, eat some of my food,

and drink some of the wine I have mixed.

9:6 Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live,

and proceed in the way of understanding.”

9:7 Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult;

whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse.

9:8 Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you;

reprove a wise person and he will love you.

9:9 Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still;

teach a righteous person and he will add to his learning.

9:10 The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord,

and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.

9:11 For because of me your days will be many,

and years will be added to your life.

9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage,

but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it.

9:13 The woman called Folly is brash,

she is naive and does not know anything.

9:14 So she sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

9:15 calling out to those who are passing by her in the way,

who go straight on their way.

9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding.

9:17 “Stolen waters are sweet,

and food obtained in secret is pleasant!”

9:18 But they do not realize that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of the grave.