Proverbs 1:8 - 7:27

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The Enticement of Sinners

Hear, my son, your father’s discipline

And do not abandon your mother’s instruction;

For they are a garland of grace for your head

And ornaments about your neck.

My son, if sinners entice you,

Do not be willing.

If they say, “Come with us,

Let us lie in wait for blood,

Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,

And whole, as those who go down to the pit;

We will find all kinds of precious wealth,

We will fill our houses with spoil;

Cast in your lot with us,

We shall all have one purse,”

My son, do not walk in the way with them.

Withhold your feet from their pathway,

For their feet run to evil

And they hasten to shed blood.

For it is no use that a net is spread

In the sight of any bird;

But they lie in wait for their own blood;

They ambush their own lives.

So are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain;

It takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

Wisdom shouts in the street,

She gives forth her voice in the square;

At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;

At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

“How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity?

And scoffers delight in scoffing

And fools hate knowledge?

Turn to my reproof,

Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

Because I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

And you neglected all my counsel

And were not willing to accept my reproof;

I will also laugh at your disaster;

I will mock when your dread comes,

When your dread comes like a storm

And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,

When distress and anguish come upon you.

Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;

They will seek me earnestly but they will not find me,

Because they hated knowledge

And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.

They were not willing to accept my counsel,

They spurned all my reproof.

So they shall eat of the fruit of their way

And be satisfied with their own devices.

For the turning away of the simple will kill them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

But he who listens to me shall dwell securely

And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Yahweh Gives Wisdom

My son, if you will receive my words

And treasure my commandments within you,

To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,

Incline your heart to discernment;

For if you call out for understanding,

Give your voice for discernment;

If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh

And find the knowledge of God.

For Yahweh gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and discernment.

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright,

A shield to those who walk in integrity,

To guard the paths of justice,

And He keeps the way of His holy ones.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice

And equity—every good track.

For wisdom will enter your heart

And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Discretion will keep you,

Discernment will guard you,

To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the man who speaks perverse things;

From those who forsake the paths of uprightness

To walk in the ways of darkness;

Who are glad to do evil

And they rejoice in the perversity of evil;

Whose paths are crooked,

And who are devious in their tracks;

To deliver you from the strange woman,

From the foreign woman who flatters with her words;

Who forsakes the close companion of her youth

And forgets the covenant of her God;

For her house sinks down to death

And her tracks descend to the dead;

All who go to her will not return,

And they will not reach the paths of life.

So that you will walk in the way of good men

And keep to the paths of the righteous.

For the upright will dwell in the land

And the blameless will remain in it;

But the wicked will be cut off from the land

And the treacherous will be torn away from it.

Trust, Fear, and Honor Yahweh

My son, do not forget my law,

But let your heart guard my commandments;

For length of days and years of life

And peace they will add to you.

Do not let lovingkindness and truth forsake you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

So you will find favor and good insight

In the eyes of God and man.

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body

And refreshment to your bones.

Honor Yahweh from your wealth

And from the first of all your produce;

So your barns will be filled with plenty

And your vats will burst with new wine.

My son, do not reject the discipline of Yahweh

Or loathe His reproof,

For whom Yahweh loves He reproves,

Even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom

And the man who obtains discernment.

For her profit is better than the profit of silver

And her produce better than fine gold.

She is more precious than pearls;

And nothing you desire compares with her.

Length of days is in her right hand;

In her left hand are riches and glory.

Her ways are pleasant ways

And all her pathways are peace.

She is a tree of life to those who seize her,

And all those who hold her fast are blessed.

Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth,

By discernment He established the heavens.

By His knowledge the deeps were split up

And the skies drip with dew.

My son, let them not deviate from your eyes;

Guard sound wisdom and discretion,

So they will be life for your soul

And grace for your neck.

Then you will walk in your way securely

And your foot will not stumble.

When you lie down, you will not be in dread;

You will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

Do not be afraid of sudden dread

Nor of the storm of the wicked when it comes;

For Yahweh will be your confidence

And will keep your foot from being caught.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

When it is in your hand to do it.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,

And tomorrow I will give it,”

When it is there with you.

Do not devise harm against your neighbor,

While he lives securely beside you.

Do not contend with a man without cause,

If he has dealt you no harm.

Do not envy a man of violence

And do not choose any of his ways.

For the devious one is an abomination to Yahweh;

But His secret council is with the upright.

The curse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked one,

But He blesses the abode of the righteous.

Though He scoffs at the scoffers,

Yet He gives grace to the humble.

The wise will inherit glory,

But fools raise up disgrace.

A Father’s Wise Instruction

Hear, O sons, the discipline of a father,

And pay attention that you may know understanding,

For I give you sound learning;

Do not forsake my instruction.

When I was a son to my father,

Tender and the only son before my mother,

Then he instructed me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

Keep my commandments and live;

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget and do not turn away from the sayings of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

Love her, and she will guard you.

The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, acquire understanding.

Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

She will give for your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

I have instructed you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in upright tracks.

When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;

And if you run, you will not stumble.

Seize discipline; do not let go.

Guard her, for she is your life.

Do not enter the path of wicked men

And do not step into the way of evil men.

Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Stray from it and pass on.

For they do not sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the fullness of day.

The way of the wicked is like thick darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.

My son, pay attention to my words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

Do not let them deviate from your eyes;

Keep them in the midst of your heart.

For they are life to those who find them

And healing to all his flesh.

Guard your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you a perverse mouth

And put devious lips far from you.

Let your eyes look directly ahead

And even let your eyelids be fixed straight in front of you.

Watch the track of your feet

And all your ways will be established.

Do not turn to the right nor to the left;

Turn your foot from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,

Incline your ear to my discernment;

That you may keep discretion

And that your lips may guard knowledge.

For the lips of a strange woman drip honey

And smoother than oil is her speech;

But her end is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two‑edged sword.

Her feet go down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol,

Lest she watch the path of life;

Her tracks are unstable, she does not know it.

So now, my sons, listen to me

And do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her

And do not go near the door of her house,

Lest you give your splendor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength

And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;

And you groan at your end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

And you say, “How I have hated discipline!

And my heart spurned reproof!

I have not listened to the voice of my instructors,

And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!

I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Drink water from your own cistern

And fresh water from your own well.

Should your springs be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

Let them be for you alone,

And not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed,

And be glad in the wife of your youth.

As a loving hind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be intoxicated always with her love.

So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a strange woman

And embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,

And He watches all his tracks.

His own iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,

And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.

He will die for lack of discipline,

And in the abundance of his folly he will stumble in intoxication.

Practical Warnings

My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor,

Have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,

If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,

Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;

Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,

Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.

Give no sleep to your eyes,

Nor slumber to your eyelids;

Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand

And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, O sluggard,

Observe her ways and be wise,

Which, having no chief,

Officer or ruler,

Prepares her food in the summer

And gathers her provision in the harvest.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

“A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest”—

Your poverty will come in like a vagabond

And your want like an armed man.

A vile person, a wicked man,

Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,

Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,

Who points with his fingers;

Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,

Who spreads contentions.

Therefore his disaster will come suddenly;

Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

There are six things which Yahweh hates,

Even seven which are an abomination to Him:

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that devises wicked thoughts,

Feet that hasten to run to evil,

A false witness who breathes out lies,

And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

My son, observe the commandment of your father

And do not abandon the law of your mother;

Bind them continually on your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

When you walk about, they will lead you;

When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;

And when you awake, they will speak to you.

For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light;

And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

To keep you from the evil woman,

From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,

And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom

And his clothes not be burned?

Or can a man walk on hot coals

And his feet not be scorched?

So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

Men do not despise a thief if he steals

To fill himself when he is hungry;

But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold;

He must give all the substance of his house.

The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking a heart of wisdom;

He who would destroy his soul does it.

Wounds and disgrace he will find,

And his reproach will not be blotted out.

For jealousy enrages a man,

And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will not accept any ransom,

He will not be willing though you give many bribes.

The Adulteress’ Trap

My son, keep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

Keep my commandments and live,

And my law as the apple of your eye.

Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

In order to keep you from the strange woman,

From the foreign woman who flatters with her words.

For at the window of my house

I looked out through my lattice,

And I saw among the simple,

And discerned among the sons

A young man lacking a heart of wisdom,

Passing through the street near her corner;

And he strides along the way to her house,

In the twilight, in the evening of that day,

In the middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.

And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not dwell at home;

Stepping in the streets, stepping in the squares,

And near every corner she lies in wait.

So she seizes him and kisses him

And with a brazen face she says to him:

“The sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;

Today I paid my vows.

Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.

I have spread my couch with coverings,

With colored linens of Egypt.

I have sprinkled my bed

With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.

For my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a journey far away;

He took a bag of silver in his hand,

On the day of the full moon he will come home.”

With her abundant persuasions she entices him;

With her flattering lips she drives him to herself.

He suddenly follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,

Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a bird hastens to the snare,

And he does not know that it will cost him his soul.

So now, my sons, listen to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Do not let your heart go astray into her ways,

Do not wander into her pathways.

For many are the slain whom she has cast down,

And numerous are all those killed by her.

The ways to Sheol are in her house,

Descending to the chambers of death.

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