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

That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:

to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

My son, if they sinning shall entice thee, thou shalt not go in.

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

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

We will find and take all kinds of precious possessions,
We will fill our houses with spoil;

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

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

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

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

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

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

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

If you respond to my warning,
then I will pour out my spirit on you
and teach you my words.

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

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

Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
they will search for me, but won’t find me.

were not interested in my counsel,
and rejected all my correction,

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

for the turning away of the unwise shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall be their own destruction.

“But whoever listens to me (Wisdom) will live securely and in confident trust
And will be at ease, without fear or dread of evil.”

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

[in order] to incline your ear toward wisdom, [then] you shall apply your heart to understanding.

He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

[in order] to guard paths of justice and keep the way of his faithful [ones].

Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance]
And integrity and every good path.

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

To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking 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 crooked, and they froward in their paths:

[in order] to deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman [who] flatters [with] her sayings,

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

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

None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart:

Let not kindness and truth forsake thee, Bind them on thy neck, Write them on the tablet of thy heart,

So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

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

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD, neither faint when thou are rebuked of him.

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

Happy [is] {the one} who finds wisdom, and one who obtains understanding.

For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold.

She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with 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.

Yahweh in wisdom founded the earth; he established the heavens in understanding.

So shall they become life to thy soul, and an adorning to thy neck;

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong,
And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].

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 plot harm against your neighbor [who] dwells in confidence beside you.

Do not quarrel with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

Be not envious of a man of violence, Nor fix thou on any of his ways.

For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; But his friendship is with the upright.

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

Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners,
Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].

The wise will inherit honor and glory,
But dishonor and shame is conferred on fools.

Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,
And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.

For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

he taught me and said:
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.

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

The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! With all [that is in] your possession, gain insight.

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.

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

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

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on.

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

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, going on and brightening until the day be fully come.

The way of the unjust as darkness: they shall not know in what they shall stumble.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.

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

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

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

[in order] to keep prudence, and knowledge will guard your lips.

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

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.

So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life;
Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

Let your way [in life] be far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,