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The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
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for learning what wisdom and discipline are, for understanding words of deep meaning,
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for acquiring a disciplined insight, uprightness, justice and fair dealing;
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for teaching sound judgement to the simple, and knowledge and reflection to the young;
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Let the wise listen and learn yet more, and a person of discernment will acquire the art of guidance.
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for perceiving the meaning of proverbs and obscure sayings, the sayings of the sages and their riddles.
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The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; fools spurn wisdom and discipline.
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Listen, my child, to your father's instruction, do not reject your mother's teaching:
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they will be a crown of grace for your head, a circlet for your neck.
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My child, if sinners try to seduce you, do not go with them.
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If they say, 'Come with us: let us lie in ambush to shed blood; if we plan an ambush for the innocent without provocation,
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we can swallow them alive, like Sheol, and whole, like those who sink into oblivion.
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We shall find treasures of every sort, we shall fill our houses with plunder;
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throw in your lot with us: one purse between us all.'
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My child, do not follow them in their way, keep your steps out of their path
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for their feet hasten to evil, they are quick to shed blood;
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for the net is spread in vain if any winged creature can see it.
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It is for their own blood such people lie in wait, their ambush is against their own selves!
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Such are the paths of all who seek dishonest gain: which robs of their lives all who take it for their own.
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Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, she raises her voice in the public squares;
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she calls out at the street corners, she delivers her message at the city gates.
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'You simple people, how much longer will you cling to your simple ways? How much longer will mockers revel in their mocking and fools go on hating knowledge?
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Pay attention to my warning. To you I will pour out my heart and tell you what I have to say.
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Since I have called and you have refused me, since I have beckoned and no one has taken notice,
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since you have ignored all my advice and rejected all my warnings,
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I, for my part, shall laugh at your distress, I shall jeer when terror befalls you,
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when terror befalls you, like a storm, when your distress arrives, like a whirlwind, when ordeal and anguish bear down on you.
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Then they will call me, but I shall not answer, they will look eagerly for me and will not find me.
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They have hated knowledge, they have not chosen the fear of Yahweh,
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they have taken no notice of my advice, they have spurned all my warnings:
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so they will have to eat the fruits of their own ways of life, and choke themselves with their own scheming.
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For the errors of the simple lead to their death, the complacency of fools works their own ruin;
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but whoever listens to me may live secure, will have quiet, fearing no mischance.'
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