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Proverbs

Offers wisdom and advice on how to live a good and meaningful life.

Chapter 1

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1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

*The sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king.

2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

*To learn wisdom and guidance; to understand the meaning of wise words;

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

*To learn about wise choices, fairness, and good decisions, and being fair.

4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

*To make cleverness easy for those who aren't, and wisdom and good judgment for young people.

5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

*A smart person listens and learns more; a thoughtful person gets good advice.

6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

*To understand a saying, and its meaning; the words of smart people, and their mysterious expressions.

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

*Fearing God starts understanding: but foolish people disrespect smart ideas and teaching.

8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

*Listen, my child, to your father's teachings, and don't forget your mother's guidance.

9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

*They will make you look beautiful and graceful, and also act as a decorative necklace around your neck.

10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

*"Son, if bad people tempt you, don't agree to it."

11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

*If they ask you to join them in hiding to attack innocent people without a reason, do not go along with it.

12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

*Let's swallow them up alive like a grave, and completely, just like those who descend into a deep pit.

13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

*We will discover valuable treasures, and fill our homes with ruined goods.

14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

*Throw your share among us; let's all use the same money bag.

15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

*My child, don't follow their path; keep your feet away from where they go.

16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

*They quickly rush towards wrongdoing and hurry to spill blood.

17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

*Of course, it's pointless to set a net when birds can clearly see it.

18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

*They hide, waiting for their own blood to be shed; they secretly plan to protect 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.

*Thus, the methods of anyone eager for profit take away the life of those they belong to.

20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

*Wisdom shouts outside; she speaks in the streets:

21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

*She shouts in the main gathering area, at the gate entrances: in the city, she speaks her message.

22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

*For how long, dear simple people, will you cherish simplicity? And those who mock enjoy their mocking, while foolish people dislike knowledge.

23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

*Listen to my correction; I will give you my spirit, and I will reveal my message to you.

24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

*Because I asked and you said no; I reached out, but nobody paid attention.

25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

*But you ignored all my advice, and didn't want to listen to my warnings.

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

*I will join in laughter at your disaster; I will ridicule when your fear arrives.

27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

*When fear arrives like a desert, and destruction comes like a tornado; when trouble and pain come your way.

28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

*Then they'll call out to me, but I won't respond; they'll search for me eagerly, but they won't find me.

29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

*Because they disliked learning and didn't prefer being afraid of God.

30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

*They refused my advice: they hated all my warnings.

31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

*So, they will enjoy the results of their choices, and be satisfied by what they have created.

32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

*If naive people make wrong choices, they will die. And when foolish people get rich, it will lead to their downfall.

33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

*But whoever listens to me will live securely and won't need to worry about bad things happening.

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