The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

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

To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity;

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

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

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

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

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

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

Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;

Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending,

And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,

When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.

But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding;

Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

For it is the LORD that giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

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

Then you will understand what is right, just, and upright every good path.

When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

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

Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;

From such as leave the high street, and walk in the ways of darkness;

Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

To rescue thee, from the woman that is a stranger, from the female unknown, who with her speeches seduceth;

Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.

For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:

This is how you will walk in the way of good men and will keep to the paths of the righteous.

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

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Healing it is to thy navel, And moistening to thy bones.

For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

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

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

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

My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.

For Jehovah is at thy side, And He hath kept thy foot from capture.

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

Do not say to your neighbor, "Go and return and tomorrow I will give [it]," {when it is with you}.

Do not make evil designs against your neighbour, when he is living with you without fear.

Strive not lightly with any man, wher as he hath done thee no harm.

Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.

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

The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

With those who scorn, he is scornful, but to those who are humble, he gives favor.

The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

For I give you good doctrine;
Do not turn away from my instruction.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.

In thy walking thy step is not straitened, And if thou runnest, thou stumblest not.

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

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

The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink.

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 as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded; for out of it are the issues of life.

Never talk deceptively and don't keep company with people whose speech is corrupt.

Keep your eyes on what is in front of you, looking straight before you.

My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience],
Incline your ear to my understanding;

That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment),
And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

You aren't thinking about where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize it.

Lest thou give, to other men, thy vigour, and thy years, to him that is cruel:

As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

He will die because there is no discipline,
and be lost because of his great stupidity.

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

Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

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

A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

Therefore suddenly cometh his calamity, Instantly he is broken -- and no healing.

Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;

a false witness that bringeth up lies, and such one as soweth discord among brethren.

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

To keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

So is he who hath gone in unto the wife of his neighbour, None who doth touch her is innocent.

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

But when he is found, he must repay seven times [what he stole];
He must give all the property of his house [if necessary to meet his fine].

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

A stroke and shame he doth find, And his reproach is not wiped away,

For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will not accept {any compensation}, and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].

Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

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

and I noticed among the naive that is, I discerned among the youths a senseless young man.