The proverbs of David's son Solomon, king of Israel.

The wise will hear and increase their learning,
And the person of understanding will acquire wise counsel and the skill [to steer his course wisely and lead others to the truth],

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

For they are a garland of grace on your head,
And chains and ornaments [of gold] around your neck.

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

Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.

So shall we find all manner of costly riches, and fill our houses with spoils.

For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.

It is foolish to spread a net
where any bird can see it,

Yea, they themselves lay wait one for another's blood, and one of them would slay another.

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

She will call in the head of sound, in the entrances of the gates: in the city she will say her words:

Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.

So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;

Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:

So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.

But who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and have enough without any fear of evil."

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

so that He may guard the paths of justice
and protect the way of His loyal followers.

So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character],
And keep to the paths of the righteous.

For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land
And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it;

My son, forget not my law, but see that thine heart keep my commandments.

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

so shall thy navel be whole, and thy bones strong.

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

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe His discipline;

Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences],

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, and by understanding he set the heavens in place.

By his knowledge the primordial sea was broken open, and the clouds drip down dew.

So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Refuse not to do good unto him that should have it, so long as thine hand is able to do it.

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,
but He blesses the home of the righteous;

Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline,
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

I give you sound teaching, so do not abandon my instruction.

For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:

Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.
And whatever else you get, get understanding.

Listen, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many.

So that if thou goest therein, there shall no straitness hinder thee: and when thou runnest, thou shalt not fall.

For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.

The way of sinners is dark; they see not the cause of their fall.

My son, pay attention to my words, and listen closely to what I say.

For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.

And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.

Make the path for your feet level, so that all your ways may be established.

so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.

in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.

So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, and'she knoweth it not.

So now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words of my mouth.

so that you don't give your honor to others, and waste your best years;

strangers will drain your resources,
and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.

So shalt thou grieve in thy latter end, in the failing of thy flesh and of thy healthy condition;

And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;
he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.

He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

do this, then, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into {the palm of your neighbor's hand}: Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.

Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,
like a bird from a fowler’s trap.

Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue.

Let not your heart's desire go after her fair body; let not her eyes take you prisoner.

for by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a loaf of bread, and another's wife doth hunt for the precious soul.

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.

because jealousy incites a strong man's rage, and he will show no mercy when it's time for revenge.

My son, guard what I say and treasure my commands.

Keep my commands so that you may live, and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.

Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.

And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding,

Passing through the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house

In the twilight, in the evening;
In the black and dark night.

And, lo, a woman to meet him -- (A harlot's dress, and watchful of heart,

So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning.
Let’s feast on each other’s love!

Suddenly he went after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper's snare

Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;

Her house leads to Sheol, descending to death's catacombs.

"I'm calling to you, men! What I have to say pertains to all mankind!

Listen, for I speak of noble things,
and what my lips say is right.

Everything I have to say is just; there isn't anything corrupt or perverse in my speech.

Everything I say is sensible to someone who understands, and correct to those who have acquired knowledge.

So that I may give my lovers wealth for their heritage, making their store-houses full.

Even though he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the world's first grains of dust,

When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

"So listen to me, children! Blessed are those who obey me.

Listen to my instruction so that you may be wise, and do not neglect it.

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says,

Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live, and proceed in the way of understanding."

Do not say sharp words to a man of pride, or he will have hate for you; make them clear to a wise man, and you will be dear to him.

The woman Stupidity, is boisterous, so simple that she knoweth not what she would do;

So she sitteth at the entrance of her house, upon a seat, in the heights of the city;

"Who so is ignorant," sayeth she, "let him come hither." And to the unwise she sayeth,

But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.

Solomon’s proverbs:

A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.