Let the wise listen and increase their learning; let the person of understanding receive guidance

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

Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;

Throw in your lot with us [they insist];
We will all have one money bag [in common],”

My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

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

And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

She calleth before the congregation in the open gates, and showeth her words through the city, saying,

How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

Because I called out and you refused me, I stretched out my hand, yet there is none who heeds.

When cometh as a crashing your dread, and, your calamity, as a storm-wind, overtaketh, when there come upon you, distress and anguish.

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

For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

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.

He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;

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

Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:

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

For length of days and years of life [worth living]
And tranquility and prosperity [the wholeness of life’s blessings] they will add to you.

There shall be healing for your {flesh}, and refreshment for your body.

She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.

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

Through his wisdom the depths break up, and the clouds drop down of the dew.

Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later.
I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Her feet go down unto death, and her steps pierce through unto hell.

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

Shall your springs be scattered outward? In the streets, [shall there be] streams of water?

For every man's ways are open in the sight of the LORD, and he pondereth all their goings.

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

How long, you sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep?

Upon {such a man}, suddenly shall his calamity come; in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.

There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:

When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.

For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

For there is no man in his home; he has gone on a {long journey}.

Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

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.

All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

Through me kings have their power, and rulers give right decisions.

Through me chiefs have authority, and the noble ones are judging in righteousness.

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

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

From eternity I was appointed, from the beginning, from before there was land.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were put in their places, before the hills was my birth:

When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

When he shut the sea within certain bounds, that the waters should not go over their marks. When he laid the foundations of the earth,

For, by me, shall be multiplied - thy days, and there be added to thee - the years of life.

To call passengers who go right on their ways:

But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Those who wink their eyes are trouble makers, and the mocking fool will be brought down.

The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

The lips of the righteous feed a whole multitude; but fools shall die in their own folly.

The thing that the ungodly are afraid of, shall come upon them; but the righteous shall have their desire.

With the passing of the tempest, there is no wickedness, but [the] righteous have a foundation forever.

When pride comes, there comes shame, but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.

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

The righteousness of the blameless will smooth their way and keep it straight,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

Through the blessing of the righteous a city is built up, but what the wicked say tears it down.

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.

A woman who is full of grace is honoured, but a woman hating righteousness is a seat of shame: those hating work will undergo loss, but the strong keep their wealth.

They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

It shall not help the wicked, though they lay all their hands together; but the seed of the righteous shall be preserved.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

He that keepeth back corn, the populace will curse him, but there is, a blessing, for the head of him that selleth.

No man will make himself safe through evil-doing; but the root of upright men will never be moved.

The words of sinners are destruction for the upright; but the mouth of upright men is their salvation.

The wicked falleth into the snare through the malice of his own mouth; but the just shall escape out of peril.

There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy.

There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

A shrewd man is reluctant to display his knowledge [until the proper time],
But the heart of [over-confident] fools proclaims foolishness.

In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

The soul of the lazy craves, but there is nothing, but the person of diligence is richly supplied.

There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

There is a glad dawn for the upright man, but the light of the sinner will be put out.

By pride there only cometh contention; but with the well-advised is wisdom.

Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle,
but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.

Wise behaviour gets approval, but the way of the false is their destruction.

Desire realized is sweet to the soul;
But it is detestable to fools to turn away from evil [which they have planned].

which their children's children shall have in possession - for the riches of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

The upright man has food to the full measure of his desire, but there will be no food for the stomach of evil-doers.

The wisdom of women buildeth their house; but folly plucketh it down with her hands.

{When there are no} oxen the manger is empty, but an abundance of crops [comes] by the strength of an ox.

A scorner seeketh wisdom, and there is none for him; but knowledge is easy unto the intelligent.