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

To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

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],

To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

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

For a graceful wreath are they to thy head, And chains to thy neck.

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

If they say, “Come with us;
Let us lie in wait to shed blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

We swallow them as Sheol -- alive, And whole -- as those going down to the pit,

Thy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is -- to all of us.'

My son, do not walk on the road with them;
Keep your foot [far] away from their path,

For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

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

but they set an ambush to kill themselves;
they attack their own lives.

She calls out at the busiest part of the noisy streets, and at the entrance to the gates of the city she utters her words:

'Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge?

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];

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

I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not.

Because they hated knowledge,
didn’t choose to fear the Lord,

They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof,

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the foolish shall cause them to perish.

And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And is quiet from fear of evil!'

My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

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

yea, if thou criest after discernment and liftest up thy voice to understanding;

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

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

To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.

For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,

To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:

To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

For her house leads down to death
And her paths lead to the dead;

None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:

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 do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,

My child, do not forget my instruction, and may your heart guard my commands.

For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

In all your ways give ear to him, and he will make straight your footsteps.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and retreat from evil.

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Honor Yahweh from your substance, and from the firstfruits of all that will come to you,

My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the Lord [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline];
Nor despise His rebuke,

For to those who are dear to him the Lord says sharp words, and makes the son in whom he has delight undergo pain.

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

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Maintain your competence and discretion.
My son, don’t lose sight of them.

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

Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble.

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

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or the storm of wickedness that will come.

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

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

Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
Who lives securely beside you.

Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when he did not do you harm.

Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.

For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.

If the scorners He doth scorn, Yet to the humble He doth give grace.

Honour do the wise inherit, And fools are bearing away shame!

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

For good learning I have given to you, My law forsake not.

For, a son I have been to my father -- tender, And an only one before my mother.

And he directeth me, and he saith to me: 'Let thy heart retain my words, Keep my commands, and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding, Do not forget, nor turn away From the sayings of my mouth.

Do not forsake her--then she will guard you; love her and she will keep you.

The first sign of wisdom is to get wisdom; go, give all you have to get true knowledge.

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And years of life are multiplied to thee.

In a way of wisdom I have directed thee, I have caused thee to tread in paths of uprightness.

Lay hold on instruction, do not desist, Keep her, for she is thy life.

In the path of the wicked do not go; do not walk in the way of those who do evil.

Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.

For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

The way of the wicked is like [deep] darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,
and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

Thine eyes do look straightforward, And thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

Keep your paths far from her, and do not go near to the door of her house,

Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,