Proverbs

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

1These are the wise sayings of Solomon. He was David's son and the king of Israel.

2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

2They help you learn wisdom and take teaching. They help you understand wise words.

3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

3They teach you how to live wisely. You learn to be fair and to do what is right.

4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

4They make people who know little more careful. They give young people knowledge and good sense.

5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

5A wise person listens and learns even more. A person who understands gets good advice.

6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

6Then you can understand wise sayings and stories. You can understand the riddles wise people tell.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

7Respecting the LORD is where knowledge begins. But fools hate wisdom and hate being taught.

Note"The fear of the LORD" means deep respect and wonder toward God. It does not mean being scared of him.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

8My son, listen to what your father teaches you. Do not forget what your mother taught you.

9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

9Their teaching is like a pretty crown on your head. It is like a necklace around your neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

10My son, people who do wrong may try to pull you in. Do not go along with them.

11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

11They may say, "Come with us. Let us hide and wait to hurt someone. Let us jump on people who did nothing wrong."

12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

12"We will swallow them whole, the way the grave swallows the dead. We will take them down all at once."

Note"The grave" and "the pit" both mean the place where dead people go. The men are saying they will destroy people completely.

13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

13"We will get all kinds of nice things. We will fill our houses with what we take."

14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

14"Join us. We will all share one money bag."

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

15My son, do not walk that road with them. Keep your feet off their path.

16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

16Their feet run to do evil. They hurry to hurt and kill people.

17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

17A bird watches you spread the net. Then the trap is useless.

18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

18These men are really trapping themselves. They hide and wait, and they lose their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

19That is what happens to greedy people. Greed takes away the life of the one who has it.

20Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

20Wisdom calls out loud in the street. She lifts her voice in the town square.

NoteThe Bible talks about wisdom here as if she were a woman standing in the street and calling to people.

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

21She calls out where the crowds are busy. She speaks at the city gates. She says:

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

22"How long will you who know little love your silly ways? How long will you who make fun enjoy your laughing? How long will fools hate knowledge?"

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

23"Turn around when I correct you. Then I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you."

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

24"I called you, and you said no. I held out my hand, and nobody cared."

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

25"You ignored all my advice. You wanted none of my correction."

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

26"So I will laugh when trouble comes to you. I will make fun when fear hits you."

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

27"Fear will come at you like a storm. Ruin will hit you like a whirlwind. Pain and worry will pour over you."

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

28"Then they will call to me, but I will not answer. They will hunt for me, but they will not find me."

NoteThe old wording says they will "seek me early." It means they will look very hard, not that they will look in the morning.

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

29"They hated knowledge. They chose not to respect the LORD."

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

30"They wanted none of my advice. They said no to all my correction."

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

31"So they will get what their own way brings them. Their own plans will fill them up."

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

32"People who know little turn away, and it kills them. Fools feel safe, and that safe feeling destroys them."

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

33"But whoever listens to me will live safely. That person will rest and not be afraid of harm."