Proverbs 1-3

21st Century King James Version

1 The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

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

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

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

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

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

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

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

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

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

¹¹ If they say, “Come with us; let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

¹² let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those that go down to the pit;

¹³ we shall find much precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴ cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse”

¹⁵ my son, walk not thou in the way with them; restrain thy foot from their path;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

²⁴ “Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man heeded,

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

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

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

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

²⁹ because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰ They would have none of my counsel, and they despised all my reproof:

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

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

³³ but whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall have quiet from fear of evil.”

2 My son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments within thee,

² so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding;

³ yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

⁴ if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasure,

⁵ then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶ For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

⁷ He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

⁸ He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of His saints.

⁹ Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path.

¹⁰ When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul,

¹¹ discretion shall preserve thee, and understanding shall keep thee,

¹² to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from men that speaketh froward things,

¹³ who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁴ who rejoice to do evil and delight in the frowardness of the wicked,

¹⁵ whose ways are crooked and who are froward in their paths.

¹⁶ Wisdom will deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger, who flattereth with her words,

¹⁷ who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God;

¹⁸ for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

¹⁹ None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

²⁰ Thus thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹ For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it;

²² but the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

3 My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments;

² for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee.

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thine heart.

⁴ So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding;

⁶ in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.

⁸ It shall be health to thy flesh and marrow to thy bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

¹⁰ so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction;

¹² for whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding;

¹⁴ for the merchandising of it is better than the merchandising of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her.

¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is everyone that retaineth her.

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens;

²⁰ by His knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹ My son, let not these depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion;

²² so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace around thy neck.

²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble;

²⁴ when thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh;

²⁶ for the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being snared.

²⁷ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

²⁸ Say not unto thy neighbor, “Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give,” when thou hast it with thee.

²⁹ Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely beside thee.

³⁰ Strive not with a man without cause if he has done thee no harm.

³¹ Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways;

³² for the froward is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous.

³³ The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesseth the habitation of the just.

³⁴ Surely He scorneth the scorners, but He giveth grace unto the lowly.

³⁵ The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools.