Proverbs 1:7-22

⁷The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge— fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not lay aside the rules of your mother;

⁹they will be a graceful wreath for your head and pendants hanging from your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners try to entice you into their sin, refuse to follow them.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide and attack innocent people for no reason.

¹²Let us swallow them up alive, like Sheol takes away those who are healthy, and make them like those who fall into the pit.

¹³We shall find all kinds of valuable things; we will fill our houses with what we steal from others.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us; we will all have one purse together.”

¹⁵My son, do not walk down that road with them; do not let your foot touch where they walk;

¹⁶their feet run to evil and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For it is useless to spread the net in the sight of any bird.

¹⁸These men lie in wait for their own blood— they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who gains riches by injustice; unjust gain takes away the lives of those who hold on to it.

²⁰Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the open places;

²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, at the entrance of the city gates she speaks,

²²“How long, you naive people, will you love being naive? How long, you mockers, will you delight in mockery, and how long, you fools, will you hate knowledge?