Proverbs 1

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;	1 The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;	2 That men may appreciate wisdom and discipline, may understand words of intelligence;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;	3 May receive training in wise conduct, in what is right, just and honest;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.	4 That resourcefulness may be imparted to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:	5 A wise man by hearing them will advance in learning, an intelligent man will gain sound guidance,
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.	6 That he may comprehend proverb and parable, the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.	7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:	8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and reject not your mother's teaching;
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.	9 A graceful diadem will they be for your head; a torque for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.	10 My son, should sinners entice you,
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:	11 and say, "Come along with us! Let us lie in wait for the honest man, let us, unprovoked, set a trap for the innocent;
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:	12 Let us swallow them up, as the nether world does, alive, in the prime of life, like those who go down to the pit!
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:	13 All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain, we shall fill our houses with booty;
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:	14 Cast in your lot with us, we shall all have one purse!"--
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:	15 My son, walk not in the way with them, hold back your foot from their path!
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.	16 (For their feet run to evil, they hasten to shed blood.)
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.	17 It is in vain that a net is spread before the eyes of any bird--
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.	18 These men lie in wait for their own blood, they set a trap for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.	19 This is the fate of everyone greedy of loot: unlawful gain takes away the life of him who acquires it.
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:	20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice;
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,	21 Down the crowded ways she calls out, at the city gates she utters her words:
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?	22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love inanity,
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.	23 how long will you turn away at my reproof? Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit, I will acquaint you with my words.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;	24 "Because I called and you refused, I extended my hand and no one took notice;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:	25 Because you disdained all my counsel, and my reproof you ignored--
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;	26 I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom; I will mock when terror overtakes you;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.	27 When terror comes upon you like a storm, and your doom approaches like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish befall you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:	28 "Then they call me, but I answer not; they seek me, but find me not;
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:	29 Because they hated knowledge, and chose not the fear of the LORD;
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.	30 They ignored my counsel, they spurned all my reproof; And in their arrogance they preferred arrogance, and like fools they hated knowledge:
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.	31 "Now they must eat the fruit of their own way, and with their own devices be glutted.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.	32 For the self-will of the simple kills them, the smugness of fools destroys them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.	33 But he who obeys me dwells in security, in peace, without fear of harm."