To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:

To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:

(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)

For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.

Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;

How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?

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.

You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:

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

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

For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.

Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.

For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;

Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;

For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.

But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.

Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart;

Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:

So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.

My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:

The Lord by wisdom put in position the bases of the earth; by reason he put the heavens in their place.

By his knowledge the deep was parted, and dew came dropping from the skies.

So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck.

When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.

For the Lord will be your hope, and will keep your foot from being taken in the net.

Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.

For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

The wise will have glory for their heritage, but shame will be the reward of the foolish.

Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.

Put her in a high place, and you will be lifted up by her; she will give you honour, when you give her your love.

Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours.

When you go, your way will not be narrow, and in running you will not have a fall.

Do not go in the road of sinners, or be walking in the way of evil men.

Keep far from it, do not go near; be turned from it, and go on your way.

My son, give attention to my words; let your ear be turned to my sayings.

Put away from you an evil tongue, and let false lips be far from you.

Keep a watch on your behaviour; let all your ways be rightly ordered.

Let there be no turning to the right or to the left, keep your feet from evil.

My son, give attention to my wisdom; let your ear be turned to my teaching:

So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.

And strange men may be full of your wealth, and the fruit of your work go to the house of others;

And you will be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted;

And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;

Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places.

Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you.

Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.

As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.

The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin.

You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you.

Go to the ant, you hater of work; give thought to her ways and be wise:

How long will you be sleeping, O hater of work? when will you get up from your sleep?

For this cause his downfall will be sudden; quickly he will be broken, and there will be no help for him.

Six things are hated by the Lord; seven things are disgusting to him:

In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you.

Or may one go on lighted coals, and his feet not be burned?

Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.

My son, keep my sayings, and let my rules be stored up with you.

Keep my rules and you will have life; let my teaching be to you as the light of your eyes;

Let them be fixed to your fingers, and recorded in your heart.

Say to wisdom, You are my sister; let knowledge be named your special friend:

So she took him by his hand, kissing him, and without a sign of shame she said to him:

The simple man goes after her, like an ox going to its death, like a roe pulled by a cord;

Let not your heart be turned to her ways, do not go wandering in her footsteps.

For those wounded and made low by her are great in number; and all those who have come to their death through her are a great army.

For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.

I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.

Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.

My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.

Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times;

Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go.

Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.

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.

Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased.

For by me your days will be increased, and the years of your life will be long.

Crying out to those who go by, going straight on their way, she says:

The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.

Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow.

The memory of the upright is a blessing, but the name of the evil-doer will be turned to dust.

The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.

He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low.

Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love.

Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near.

Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish.

Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely.

The thing feared by the evil-doer will come to him, but the upright man will get his desire.

The fear of the Lord gives long life, but the years of the evil-doer will be cut short.

The upright man will never be moved, but evil-doers will not have a safe resting-place in the land.

The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off.

Scales of deceit are hated by the Lord, but a true weight is his delight.

The righteousness of the upright will be their guide, but the twisted ways of the false will be their destruction.

The righteousness of the good man will make his way straight, but the sin of the evil-doer will be the cause of his fall.

The righteousness of the upright will be their salvation, but the false will themselves be taken in their evil designs.

By the blessing of the upright man the town is made great, but it is overturned by the mouth of the evil-doer.

When there is no helping suggestion the people will have a fall, but with a number of wise guides they will be safe.

He who makes himself responsible for a strange man will undergo much loss; but the hater of such undertakings will be safe.

The man who has mercy will be rewarded, but the cruel man is the cause of trouble to himself.

The uncontrolled are hated by the Lord, but those whose ways are without error are his delight

Certainly the evil-doer will not go free from punishment, but the seed of the upright man will be safe.