The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 The proverbs of Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra'el,
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The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 are for learning about wisdom and discipline; for understanding words expressing deep insight;
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To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 for gaining an intelligently disciplined life, doing what is right, just and fair;
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To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 for endowing with caution those who don't think and the young person with knowledge and discretion.
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To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 Someone who is already wise will hear and learn still more; someone who already understands will gain the ability to counsel well;
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A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 he will understand proverbs, obscure expressions, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
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To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of ADONAI is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, heed the discipline of your father, and do not abandon the teaching of your mother;
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My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 they will be a garland to grace your head, a medal of honor for your neck.
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For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, don't go along with them.
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My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 Suppose they say, "Come with us: we'll ambush somebody and kill him, we'll waylay some harmless soul, just for fun;
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If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 we'll swallow him alive, like Sh'ol, whole, like those who descend to the pit;
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Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 we'll find everything he has of value, we'll fill our homes with loot!
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We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Throw in your lot with us; we'll share a common purse"-
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Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 my son, don't go along with them, don't set foot on their path;
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My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 Their feet run to evil, they rush to shed blood.
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For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is the net baited if any bird can see it;
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Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 rather, they are ambushing themselves to shed their own blood, waylaying themselves.
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And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of all greedy for gain -it takes the lives of those who get it.
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So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the open air and raises her voice in the public places;
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Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 she calls out at streetcorners and speaks out at entrances to city gates:
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She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 "How long, you whose lives have no purpose, will you love thoughtless living? How long will scorners find pleasure in mocking? How long will fools hate knowledge?
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How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent when I reprove -I will pour out my spirit to you, I will make my words known to you.
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Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because you refused when I called, and no one paid attention when I put out my hand,
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Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 but instead you neglected my counsel and would not accept my reproof;
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But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I, in turn, will laugh at your distress, and mock when terror comes over you
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I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 yes, when terror overtakes you like a storm and your disaster approaches like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble assail you.
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When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then they will call me, but I won't answer; they will seek me earnestly, but they won't find me.
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Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of ADONAI,
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For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 they refused my counsel and despised my reproof.
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They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 So they will bear the consequences of their own way and be overfilled with their own schemes.
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Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the aimless wandering of the thoughtless will kill them, and the smug overconfidence of fools will destroy them;
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For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 but those who pay attention to me will live securely, untroubled by fear of misfortune."
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But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.