to understand a proverb and its meaning; the words of the wise, and their acute sayings.

My son, if sinners lure you, do not be willing.

If they say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, we will watch secretly for the innocent without cause;

let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those who go down into the pit;

we shall find all precious goods; we shall fill our houses with plunder;

My son, do not walk in the way with them! Keep back your foot from their path,

So are the ways of everyone who gains unjust gain; it takes away its owners' life.

How long will you love simplicity, simple ones? And will scorners delight in their scorning? And will fools hate knowledge?

Turn at my warning; behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention;

but you have despised all my advice, and would have none of my warning.

I also will laugh at your trouble; I will mock when your fear comes;

when your fear comes as a wasting away, and your ruin comes like a tempest when trouble and pain come upon you.

Then they shall call upon me, and I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me;

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

For the turning away of the simple kills them, and the ease of fools destroys them.

My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you,

so that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding;

yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding;

if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures,

then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God.

He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.

He keeps the paths of judgment, and guards the way of His saints.

Then you shall understand righteousness and judgment and honesty, every good path.

judgment shall keep you, understanding shall keep you,

to deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks wicked things;

those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perversities of the wicked;

They will deliver you from the strange woman, the stranger who flatters with her words,

who forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.

All who go in to her do not return, nor do they take hold of the paths of life,

in order that you may walk in the way of good and keep the paths of the righteous.

for they shall add length of days, and long life, and peace to you.

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; tie them around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart;

and you shall find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

for whom Jehovah loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding.

she is more precious than rubies; and all the things you can desire are not to be compared with her.

She is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her; and happy is everyone who keeps her.

then you shall walk in your way safely, and your foot shall not stumble.

When you lie down, you shall not be afraid; yea, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.

Do not say to your neighbor, Go and come back again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it beside you:

Do not plan evil against your neighbor, since he dwells trustingly by you.

Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

Sons, hear the instruction of a father, and listen in order to know understanding.

For I give you good teaching; do not forsake my law.

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

Get wisdom, get understanding; forget not; nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she shall preserve you; love her, and she shall keep you.

Prize her, and she shall lift you up; she shall bring you to honor when you embrace her.

She shall give to your hand an ornament of grace; she shall shield you with a crown of glory.

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of your life shall be many.

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

When you go, your steps shall not be narrowed, and when you run, you shall not stumble.

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

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

The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble.

For they are life to those who find them, and health to all his flesh.

Put away from you a wicked mouth, and devious lips put far from you.

Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you.

For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her palate is smoother than oil;

but afterward she is as bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

lest you should meditate on the path of life, her tracks are movable; you cannot know them.

And now hear me, O sons, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

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

that strangers not be filled with your strength, and your labors be in the house of a stranger;

and you moan when your end comes, when your flesh and muscle are eaten away,

and say, How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction;

and I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor bowed down my ears to those who taught me!

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Let them be only your own, and not strangers' with you.

Like the loving deer and pleasant doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times, and be ravished always with her love.

And why will you, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

My son, if you are surety for your friend, if you struck your palms with a stranger,

you are snared with the words of your mouth, you are taken with the words of your mouth.

My son, do this now, and deliver yourself when you have come into the hand of your friend; go, humble yourself and make your friend sure.

Deliver yourself as a gazelle from the hunter's hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

who, having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

How long will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down;

so shall your poverty come as one who travels, and your need like an armed man.

A worthless person, a wicked man walks with a crooked mouth,

These six Jehovah hates; yea, seven are hateful to his soul:

a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that plots wicked plans, feet hurrying to run to evil,

a false witness who speaks lies, and he who causes fighting among brothers.

When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall keep you; and when you awake, it shall talk with you.

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

to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Do not lust after her beauty in your heart; nor let her take you with her eyelids.

For by means of a harlot a man comes to a piece of bread; and another man's wife will hunt for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

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

Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does it destroys his own soul.

He shall get a wound and dishonor; and his shame shall not be wiped away.

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

He will not take any ransom; nor will he be willing if you multiply the gifts.

My son, keep my words and store up my commandments within you.

Keep my commandments and live; and keep my law as the pupil of your eye.