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The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: |
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To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding; |
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To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity; |
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To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion: |
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That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels: |
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To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings. |
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The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction. |
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My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: |
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For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck. |
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My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not. |
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If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; |
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Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit; |
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We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil; |
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Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse: |
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My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path: |
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For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. |
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For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird: |
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And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives. |
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So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof. |
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Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places; |
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She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words: |
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How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge? |
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Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you. |
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Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded; |
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But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof: |
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I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; |
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When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you. |
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Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me: |
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For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah: |
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They would none of my counsel; They despised all my reproof. |
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Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices. |
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For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. |
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But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil. |
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My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee; |
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So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding; |
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Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding; |
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If thou seek her as silver, And search for her as for hid treasures: |
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Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God. |
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For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding: |
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He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity; |
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That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints. |
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Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, yea, every good path. |
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For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; |
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Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee: |
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To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things; |
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Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; |
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Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil; |
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Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths: |
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To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; |
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That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God: |
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For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead; |
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None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: |
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That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous. |
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For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. |
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But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. |
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My son, forget not my law; But let thy heart keep my commandments: |
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For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee. |
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Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart: |
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So shalt thou find favor and good understanding In the sight of God and man. |
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Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding: |
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In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths. |
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Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil: |
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It will be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones. |
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Honor Jehovah with thy substance, And with the first-fruits of all thine increase: |
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So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, And thy vats shall overflow with new wine. |
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My son, despise not the chastening of Jehovah; Neither be weary of his reproof: |
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For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. |
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Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding. |
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For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, And the profit thereof than fine gold. |
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She is more precious than rubies: And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her. |
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Length of days is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. |
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Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. |
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She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her. |
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Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding he established the heavens. |
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By his knowledge the depths were broken up, And the skies drop down the dew. |
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My son, let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep sound wisdom and discretion: |
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So shall they be life unto thy soul, And grace to thy neck. |
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Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, And thy foot shall not stumble. |
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When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. |
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Be not afraid of sudden fear, Neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh: |
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For Jehovah will be thy confidence, And will keep thy foot from being taken. |
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Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thy hand to do it. |
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Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, And to-morrow I will give; When thou hast it by thee. |
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Devise not evil against thy neighbor, Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. |
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Strive not with a man without cause, If he have done thee no harm. |
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Envy thou not the man of violence, And choose none of his ways. |
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For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; But his friendship is with the upright. |
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The curse of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked; But he blesseth the habitation of the righteous. |
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Surely he scoffeth at the scoffers; But he giveth grace unto the lowly. |
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The wise shall inherit glory; But shame shall be the promotion of fools. |