2To know wisdom and instruction,
To [a]perceive the words of understanding,
3To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will [b]attain wise counsel,
6To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

10My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12Let us swallow them alive like [c]Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13We shall find all kinds of precious [d]possessions,
We shall fill our houses with [e]spoil;
14Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17Surely, in [f]vain the net is spread
In the sight of any [g]bird;
18But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

28“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32For the [l]turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be [m]secure, without fear of evil.”