| 1 |
My son, keep my words, And lay up my commandments with thee. |
| 2 |
Keep my commandments and live; And my law as the apple of thine eye. |
| 3 |
Bind them upon thy fingers; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart. |
| 4 |
Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; And call understanding thy kinswoman: |
| 5 |
That they may keep thee from the strange woman, From the foreigner that flattereth with her words. |
| 6 |
For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice; |
| 7 |
And I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, A young man void of understanding, |
| 8 |
Passing through the street near her corner; And he went the way to her house, |
| 9 |
In the twilight, in the evening of the day, In the middle of the night and in the darkness. |
| 10 |
And, behold, there met him a woman With the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart. |
| 11 |
She is clamorous and wilful; Her feet abide not in her house: |
| 12 |
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, And lieth in wait at every corner. |
| 13 |
So she caught him, and kissed him, And with an impudent face she said unto him: |
| 14 |
Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me; This day have I paid my vows. |
| 15 |
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. |
| 16 |
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. |
| 17 |
I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. |
| 18 |
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; Let us solace ourselves with loves. |
| 19 |
For the man is not at home; He is gone a long journey: |
| 20 |
He hath taken a bag of money with him; He will come home at the full moon. |
| 21 |
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield; With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along. |
| 22 |
He goeth after her straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool; |
| 23 |
Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life. |
| 24 |
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, And attend to the words of my mouth. |
| 25 |
Let not thy heart decline to her ways; Go not astray in her paths. |
| 26 |
For she hath cast down many wounded: Yea, all her slain are a mighty host. |
| 27 |
Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death. |
| 1 |
Doth not wisdom cry, And understanding put forth her voice? |
| 2 |
On the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth; |
| 3 |
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud: |
| 4 |
Unto you, O men, I call; And my voice is to the sons of men. |
| 5 |
O ye simple, understand prudence; And, ye fools, be of an understanding heart. |
| 6 |
Hear, for I will speak excellent things; And the opening of my lips shall be right things. |
| 7 |
For my mouth shall utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. |
| 8 |
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. |
| 9 |
They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge. |
| 10 |
Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold. |
| 11 |
For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it. |
| 12 |
I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling, And find out knowledge and discretion. |
| 13 |
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate. |
| 14 |
Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge: I am understanding; I have might. |
| 15 |
By me kings reign, And princes decree justice. |
| 16 |
By me princes rule, And nobles, even all the judges of the earth. |
| 17 |
I love them that love me; And those that seek me diligently shall find me. |
| 18 |
Riches and honor are with me; Yea, durable wealth and righteousness. |
| 19 |
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; And my revenue than choice silver. |
| 20 |
I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice; |
| 21 |
That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, And that I may fill their treasuries. |
| 22 |
Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old. |
| 23 |
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Before the earth was. |
| 24 |
When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. |
| 25 |
Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth; |
| 26 |
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world. |
| 27 |
When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep, |
| 28 |
When he made firm the skies above, When the fountains of the deep became strong, |
| 29 |
When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth; |
| 30 |
Then I was by him, as a master workman; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always before him, |
| 31 |
Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men. |
| 32 |
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me; For blessed are they that keep my ways. |
| 33 |
Hear instruction, and be wise, And refuse it not. |
| 34 |
Blessed is the man that heareth me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. |
| 35 |
For whoso findeth me findeth life, And shall obtain favor of Jehovah. |
| 36 |
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All they that hate me love death. |
| 1 |
Wisdom hath builded her house; She hath hewn out her seven pillars: |
| 2 |
She hath killed her beasts; She hath mingled her wine; She hath also furnished her table: |
| 3 |
She hath sent forth her maidens; She crieth upon the highest places of the city: |
| 4 |
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: As for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him, |
| 5 |
Come, eat ye of my bread, And drink of the wine which I have mingled. |
| 6 |
Leave off, ye simple ones, and live; And walk in the way of understanding. |
| 7 |
He that correcteth a scoffer getteth to himself reviling; And he that reproveth a wicked man getteth himself a blot. |
| 8 |
Reprove not a scoffer, lest he hate thee: Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee. |
| 9 |
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. |
| 10 |
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. |
| 11 |
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, And the years of thy life shall be increased. |
| 12 |
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself; And if thou scoffest, thou alone shalt bear it. |
| 13 |
The foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knoweth nothing. |
| 14 |
And she sitteth at the door of her house, On a seat in the high places of the city, |
| 15 |
To call to them that pass by, Who go right on their ways: |
| 16 |
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither; And as for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him, |
| 17 |
Stolen waters are sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant. |
| 18 |
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; That her guests are in the depths of Sheol. |