1 The proverbs {mishlei: collected sayings} of Solomon, son of David, king {melekh: national leader} of Israel.
2 To know wisdom {chokhmah: skillful insight} and discipline {musar: ethical training}; to understand words of discernment.
3 To receive instruction {musar: moral discipline} for prudence, righteousness, justice, and uprightness {meisharim: moral integrity}.
4 To give prudence {armah: practical wisdom} to the simple, knowledge and discretion {mezimmah: wise planning} to the youth.
5 Let the wise {ḥakham: skilled in wisdom} listen and increase in learning, and let the discerning acquire guidance {taḥbulot: strategic advice}.
6 To understand a proverb and an utterance, the words of the wise {chachamim: those possessing wisdom} and their riddles {chidotam: enigmatic sayings}.
7 The fear of the LORD {YHWH, Foundation of Wisdom} is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom {chokmāh: skillful living} and instruction fools despise.
8 Listen, my son, to the instruction {musar: moral discipline} of your father, and do not forsake the teaching {torat: foundational guidance} of your mother.
9 For they are a wreath of grace {chen: favor and beauty} for your head and ornaments for your neck {gargarot: throat region}.
10 My son, if sinners {chattaʾîm: moral offenders} entice you, do not consent {tōvēʾ: yield into agreement} to them.
11 If they say, “Come with us; let us lie in wait {nearbeh: planned concealment} for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause {chinnam: gratuitous harm}.”
12 Let us swallow them alive, like the grave {she'ol: the realm of the dead}, and whole, like those who go down into the pit {bor: deep chasm of destruction}:
13 We will find all precious {yaqar: of high worth} wealth, and we will fill our houses with plunder {shalal: seized goods}.
14 Cast your lot {goral: destiny allotment} among us; one purse {kis: shared money bag} will be for all of us.
15 My son, do not go {telekh: walk continually} in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path {netivah: habitual conduct}.
16 For their feet rush {yarutsu: urgent running} to evil, and they hasten to shed blood {dam: life force}.
17 In vain {chinam: without cause} the net is spread in the sight of every bird {ba’al kanaf: winged creature}.
18 But they lie in ambush for their own blood {dam: lifeblood}; they lie in wait for their own lives {nefesh: life essence}.
19 Thus are the paths of all who pursue unjust gain; it takes away the life {nefesh: soul, essential being} of its owner {beʿālāv: the one possessing}.
20 Wisdom {chokhmot: skillful understanding} calls out in the street, in the public squares she raises her voice {kolah: audible proclamation}.
21 At the head of the noisy places {homiyot: bustling crowds} she calls out; at the openings of the city gates in the city she utters her sayings {amareha: spoken words}.
22 “How long, you simple ones {petayim: naïve people}, will you love simplicity? And scoffers, how long will you desire mockery for yourselves? And how long will fools hate knowledge {da'at: understanding of what is right}?”
23 If you return at my reproof {tokhakha: corrective rebuke}, behold, I will pour out my spirit {ruach: divine breath} to you; I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I called {karati: urgent summons} and you refused, I stretched out my hand, and there was no one who listened {makshiv: careful responder}.
25 But you have ignored all my counsel {etzah: wise advice}, and were not willing to accept my reproof {tokhachah: corrective instruction}.
26 Also I will laugh at your calamity {eidkhem: disaster event}; I will mock when your dread {pakhdekhem: overwhelming fear} comes upon you.
27 When your terror {pakhad: overwhelming fear} comes like a storm, and your disaster comes like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble {tsukah: tight pressure} come upon you.
28 Then they will call me, but I will not answer {e'eneh: reply directly}; they will seek me early {yeshaḥarunni: dawn pursuit}, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge {dā·ʻaṯ: discernment} and did not choose the fear of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Reverence}.
30 They were not willing to accept my counsel{etzah: intended plan}, and they despised all my reproof{tokhachti: corrective warning}.
31 And they will eat from the fruit {peri: outcome} of their way, and from their counsels {umimmōʿaṣōtêhem: considered plans} they will be satisfied.
32 For the turning away {meshubat: departure} of the simple will kill them, and the ease {shalvat: false security} of fools will destroy them.
33 But the one who listens to me {hokhmah: Personified Wisdom} will dwell in safety {betach: secure refuge} and be at ease from the fear of evil.