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¹ The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.² To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:³ To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:⁴ To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:⁵ (The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)⁶ To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.⁸ My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:⁹ For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.¹¹ If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;¹² Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;¹³ Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;¹⁴ Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:¹⁵ My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:¹⁶ For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.¹⁷ Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:¹⁸ And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.¹⁹ Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰ Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;²¹ Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:²² How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?²³ Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.²⁴ Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;²⁵ You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:²⁶ So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;²⁷ When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.²⁸ Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:²⁹ For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:³⁰ They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.³¹ So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.³² For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.³³ But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.