Proverbs 1

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

⁹But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

⁵And of all my sons—for the Lord has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

¹These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

¹These are additional proverbs of Solomon, which were copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah:

¹²So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,

⁵See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

⁶Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

¹⁶Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

⁹Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

¹⁰Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request.

¹⁶How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

²²Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

²⁸When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

¹⁰Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

¹¹For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.

⁵O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.

⁹How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word.

¹³⁰The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.

³²Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.

⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.

⁵“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

¹⁵I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.

¹⁰Therefore listen to me, O men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wrong, and from the Almighty to act unjustly.

¹⁶If you have understanding, hear this; listen to my words.

⁹⁸Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.

⁹⁹I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.

²I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

¹¹He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:

¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

³⁰So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

³¹“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!

¹³When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

³³The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

¹⁷As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

²that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

¹These are the words of King Lemuel—the burden that his mother taught him:

⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

⁹She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

⁴²Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

²¹Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.

²²They will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.

¹⁹their pendants, bracelets, and veils;

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

²⁹A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

⁸you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

²⁶For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

¹⁸Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

¹⁹Attend to me, O Lord. Hear what my accusers are saying!

³to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.

¹⁹For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

³when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

¹Of David. To You, O Lord, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.

¹³“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”

²You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.

³You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

⁹For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.

²My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.

⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹⁵And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

²Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

¹²The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.

¹³For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.

¹⁴My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

⁹The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the Lord of Hosts.”

¹⁰¹I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

⁴I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.

¹⁷“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

⁷Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.

⁵But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.

¹¹who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

⁷Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the Lord.

²³until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.

³The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

¹⁶The Lord is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

¹⁷A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

²³He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

¹⁴Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

²³But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

²⁷He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.

³In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

³Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

¹⁷“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”

¹⁸Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’

⁹Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!

¹Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

²They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

³She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city.

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?

²On the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand.

⁴⁹Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

³⁰It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

²⁰“Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.

³She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city.

²Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.

²⁹For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

³Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³⁰For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

¹¹Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

²⁸Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

³⁶Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

²⁸And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

²¹But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

¹²I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,

⁴So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?

²⁶At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”

¹¹But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

¹²They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.

³⁰But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

¹¹But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.

³⁰They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

¹¹because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

²⁴What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

¹³but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.

¹⁵Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

²⁴For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”

²⁵Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare.

²²May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.

²³May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

⁹Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.

²⁴What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.

¹³And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the Lord of Hosts.

³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁰But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.

¹¹Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’

²³For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

¹⁴Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

²⁵He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.

¹¹When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

⁴²But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

¹¹But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.

²⁵because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

¹⁸But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

⁹The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom do they really have?

¹⁷³May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.

¹¹¹Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

¹⁴The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.

¹⁹Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.

⁸As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

⁸He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁷Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

¹⁰Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

¹¹Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

³⁶But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

¹⁹Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the Lord your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord God of Hosts.

¹⁹Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁰And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?

⁸If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

¹²Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.

¹³His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

³You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

⁷He does not fear bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

⁸His heart is assured; he does not fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes.

²⁷My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

²⁶He who fears the Lord is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.

⁹When you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be alarmed. These things must happen first, but the end is not imminent.”