“How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who gains understanding.

And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof!

How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?

If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,
How much more the wicked and the sinner!

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord,
How much more the hearts of men!

A man has joy in an apt answer,
And how delightful is a timely word!

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
How much more do his friends abandon him!
He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
How blessed are his sons after him.

Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord,
How then can man understand his way?

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,
How much more when he brings it with evil intent!

How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.