arrives like a whirlwind,
When trouble and distress come upon you.
28Then they shall call me but I will not answer;
They shall seek me but not find me.
29Because they hated knowledge,
And did not choose fear of the LORD;
30They refused my advice,
And disdained all my rebukes,
31They shall eat the fruit of their ways,
And have their fill of their own counsels.
32The tranquillity of the simple will kill them,
And the complacency of dullards will destroy them.
33But he who listens to me will dwell in safety,
Untroubled by the terror of misfortune.”
2 My son, if you accept my words
And treasure up my commandments;
2If you make your ear attentive to wisdom
And your mind open to discernment;
3If you call to understanding
And cry aloud to discernment,
4If you seek it as you do silver
And search for it as for treasures,
5Then you will understand the fear of the LORD
And attain knowledge of God.
6For the LORD grants wisdom;
Knowledge and discernment are by His decree.
7He reserves ability for the upright
And is a shield for those who live blamelessly,
8Guarding the paths of justice,
Protecting the way of those loyal to Him.
9You will then understand what is right, just,
And equitable—every good course.
10For wisdom will enter your mind
And knowledge will delight you.
11Foresight will protect you,
And discernment will guard you.
12It will save you from the way of evil men,
From men who speak duplicity,
13Who leave the paths of rectitude
To follow the ways of darkness,
14Who rejoice in doing evil
And exult in the duplicity of evil men,
15Men whose paths are crooked
And who are devious in their course.
16It will save you from the forbiddena woman,
From the alien woman whose talk is smooth,
17Who forsakes the companion of her youth
And disregards the covenant of her God.
18Her house sinks down to Death,
And her course leads to the shades.
19All who go to her cannot return
And find again the paths of life.
20So follow the way of the good
And keep to the paths of the just.
21For the upright will inhabit the earth,
The blameless will remain in it.
22While the wicked will vanish from the land
And the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your mind retain my commandments;
2For they will bestow on you length of days,
Years of life and well-being.
3Let fidelity and steadfastness not leave you;
Bind them about your throat,
Write them on the tablet of your mind,
4And you will find favor and approbation
In the eyes of God and man.
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And do not rely on your own understanding.
6In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths smooth.
7Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and shun evil.
8It will be a cure for your body,a
A tonic for your bones.
9Honor the LORD with your wealth,
With the best of all your income,
10And your barns will be filled with grain,
Your vats will burst with new wine.
11Do not reject the discipline of the LORD, my son;
Do not abhor His rebuke.
12For whom the LORD loves, He rebukes,
As a father the son whom he favors.
13Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
The man who attains understanding.
14Her value in trade is better than silver,
Her yield, greater than gold.
15She is more precious than rubies;
All of your goods cannot equal her.
16In her right hand is length of days,
In her left, riches and honor.
17Her ways are pleasant ways,
And all her paths, peaceful.
18She is a tree of life to those who grasp her,
And whoever holds on to her is happy.
19The LORD founded the earth by wisdom;
He established the heavens by understanding;
20By His knowledge the depths burst apart,
And the skies distilled dew.
21My son, do not lose sight of them;
Hold on to resourcefulness and foresight.
22They will give life to your spirit
And grace to your throat.
23Then you will go your way safely
And not injure your feet.
24When you lie down you will be unafraid;
You will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25You will not fear sudden terror
Or the disaster that comes upon the wicked,
26For the LORD will be your trust;
He will keep your feet from being caught.
27Do not withhold good from one who deserves it
When you have the power to do it [for him].
28Do not say to your fellow, “Come back again;
I’ll give it to you tomorrow,” when you have it with you.
29Do not devise harm against your fellow
Who lives trustfully with you.
30Do not quarrel with a man for no cause,
When he has done you no harm.
31Do not envy a lawless man,
Or choose any of his ways;
32For the devious man is an abomination to the LORD,
But He is intimate with the straightforward.
33The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the abode of the righteous.
34At scoffers He scoffs,
But to the lowly He shows grace.
35The wise shall obtain honor,
But dullards get disgrace as their portion.
4 Sons, heed the discipline of a father;
Listen and learn discernment,
2For I give you good instruction;
Do not forsake my teaching.
3Once I was a son to my father,
The tender darling of my mother.
4He instructed me and said to me,
“Let your mind hold on to my words;
Keep my commandments and you will live.
5Acquire wisdom, acquire discernment;
Do not forget and do not swerve from my words.
6Do not forsake her and she will guard you;
Love her and she will protect you.
7The beginninga of wisdom is—acquire wisdom;
With all your acquisitions, acquire discernment.
8Hug her to you and she will exalt you;
She will bring you honor if you embrace her.
9She will adorn your head with a graceful wreath;
Crown you with a glorious diadem.”
10My son, heed and take in my words,
And you will have many years of life.
11I instruct you in the way of wisdom;
I guide you in straight courses.
12You will walk without breaking stride;
When you run, you will not stumble.
13Hold fast to discipline; do not let go;
Keep it; it is your life.
14Do not enter on the path of the wicked;
Do not walk on the way of evil men.
15Avoid it; do not pass through it;
Turn away from it; pass it by.
16For they cannot sleep unless they have done evil;
Unless they make someone fall they are robbed of sleep.
17They eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of lawlessness.
18The path of the righteous is like radiant sunlight,
Ever brightening until noon.
19The way of the wicked is all darkness;
They do not know what will make them stumble.
20My son, listen to my speech;
Incline your ear to my words.
21Do not lose sight of them;
Keep them in your mind.
22They are life to him who finds them,
Healing for his whole body.
23More than all that you guard, guard your mind,
For it is the source of life.
24Put crooked speech away from you;
Keep devious talk far from you.
25Let your eyes look forward,
Your gaze be straight ahead.
26Survey the course you take,
And all your ways will prosper.
27Do not swerve to the right or the left;
Keep your feet from evil.
5 My son, listen to my wisdom;
Incline your ear to my insight,
2That you may have foresight,
While your lips hold fast to knowledge.
3For the lips of a forbiddena woman drip honey;
Her mouth is smoother than oil;
4But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5Her feet go down to Death;
Her steps take hold of Sheol.
6She does not chart a path of life;
Her course meanders for lack of knowledge.
7So now, sons, pay heed to me,
And do not swerve from the words of my mouth.
8Keep yourself far away from her;
Do not come near the doorway of her house
9Lest you give up your vigor to others,
Your years to a ruthless one;
10Lest strangers eat their fill of your strength,
And your toil be for the house of another;
11And in the end you roar,
When your flesh and body are consumed,
12And say,
“O how I hated discipline,
And heartily spurned rebuke.
13I did not pay heed to my teachers,
Or incline my ear to my instructors.
14Soon I was in dire trouble
Amidst the assembled congregation.”
15Drink water from your own cistern,
Running water from your own well.
16Your springs will gush forth
In streams in the public squares.
17They will be yours alone,
Others having no part with you.
18Let your fountain be blessed;
Find joy in the wife of your youth—
19A loving doe, a graceful mountain goat.
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be infatuated with love of her always.
20Why be infatuated, my son, with a forbiddena woman?
Why clasp the bosom of an alien woman?
21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of God;
He surveys his entire course.
22The wicked man will be trapped in his iniquities;
He will be caught up in the ropes of his sin.
23He will die for lack of discipline,
Infatuated by his great folly.
6 My son, if you have stood surety for your fellow,
Given your hand for another,a
2You have been trapped by the words of your mouth,
Snared by the words of your mouth.
3Do this, then, my son, to extricate yourself,
For you have come into the power of your fellow:
Go grovel—and badger your fellow;
4Give your eyes no sleep,
Your pupils no slumber.
5Save yourself like a deer out of the hand [of a hunter],
Like a bird out of the hand of a fowler.
6Lazybones, go to the ant;
Study its ways and learn.
7Without leaders, officers, or rulers,
8It lays up its stores during the summer,
Gathers in its food at the harvest.
9How long will you lie there, lazybones;
When will you wake from your sleep?
10A bit more sleep, a bit more slumber,
A bit more hugging yourself in bed,
11And poverty will come b-calling upon you,-b
And want, like a man with a shield.
12A scoundrel, an evil man
Lives by crooked speech,
13Winking his eyes,
Shuffling his feet,
Pointing his finger.
14Duplicity is in his heart;
He plots evil all the time;
He incites quarrels.
15Therefore calamity will come upon him without warning;
Suddenly he will be broken beyond repair.
16Six things the LORD hates;
Seven are an abomination to Him:
17A haughty bearing,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18A mind that hatches evil plots,
Feet quick to run to evil,
19A false witness testifying lies,
And one who incites brothers to quarrel.
20My son, keep your father’s commandment;
Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21Tie