Proverbs 1:1-13

¹Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness and judgment, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

⁵He that is wise will hear, and will increase learning; and the intelligent will gain wise counsels:

⁶to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

⁷The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;

⁹for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.

¹¹If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: