Fear of Yahweh [is the] beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction, fools despise.

to gain {insightful instruction}, righteousness and justice and equity,

to give shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and purpose to the young,

to understand a proverb and an expression, words of wisdom and their riddles.

My child, may you keep your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teachings,

If they say, "Come with us! We shall lie in wait for blood; we shall ambush the innocent without cause.

Like Sheol, we will swallow them alive and whole, {like those who descend to the pit}.

We shall find all precious wealth, we shall fill our houses [with] booty,

Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

My child, do not walk in their way. Keep your foot from their paths,

you shall throw your lot in our midst, there will be one purse for all of us."

They lie in wait for their [own] blood. They ambush their [own] lives.

for "in vain is the net scattered, in the sight of any {winged bird}."

for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood,

"{How long}, O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And [how long] will scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

May you turn to my argument! Behold, I shall pour out my spirit upon you; I will make my words known to you.

On a {busy corner} she cries out, at the entrances of the gates in the city, she speaks her sayings:

Thus are the ways of all who are greedy [for] gain-- it will take the life of its possessors.

Because I called out and you refused me, I stretched out my hand, yet there is none who heeds.

then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me.

You have ignored all my counsel, and my reproof you are not willing [to accept].

I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic comes [upon] you.

They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes,

Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh,

When your panic comes like a storm, and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you,

they were not willing [to accept] my counsel, they despised all my reproof.

Whoever listens to me will dwell in security and rest securely from dread and disaster."

for the waywardness of the simple ones will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

for they [are] a garland of favor for your head, and pendants for your neck.

Wisdom calls out in the streets, in the squares she raises her voice.

To know wisdom and instruction, to understand sayings of understanding,

My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

may the wise hear and increase learning, and the one who understands gain direction,