| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: | 1These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. |
| 2To learn wisdom and moral instruction, and to discern wise counsel. | 2Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. |
| 3To receive moral instruction in skillful living, in righteousness, justice, and equity. | 3Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. |
| 4To impart shrewdness to the morally naive, and a discerning plan to the young person. | 4These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. |
| 5(Let the wise also hear and gain instruction, and let the discerning acquire guidance!) | 5Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance |
| 6To discern the meaning of a proverb and a parable, the sayings of the wise and their riddles. | 6by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. |
| 7Fearing the LORD is the beginning of moral knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. | 7Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom |
| 8Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. | 8My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. |
| 9For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck. | 9What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck. |
| 10My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent! | 10My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them! |
| 11If they say, "Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously. | 11They may say, “Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent! |
| 12We will swallow them alive like Sheol, those full of vigor like those going down to the Pit. | 12Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave ; let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death. |
| 13We will seize all kinds of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder. | 13Think of the great things we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take. |
| 14Join with us! We will all share equally in what we steal." | 14Come, throw in your lot with us; we’ll all share the loot.” |
| 15My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path; | 15My child, don’t go along with them! Stay far away from their paths. |
| 16for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood. | 16They rush to commit evil deeds. They hurry to commit murder. |
| 17Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird, | 17If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away. |
| 18but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives! | 18But these people set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed. |
| 19Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it! | 19Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life. Wisdom Shouts in the Streets |
| 20Wisdom calls out in the street, she shouts loudly in the plazas; | 20Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. |
| 21at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she utters her words: | 21She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: |
| 22"How long will you simpletons love naivete? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? | 22“How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? |
| 23If only you will respond to my rebuke, then I will pour out my thoughts to you and I will make my words known to you. | 23Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise. |
| 24However, because I called but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention, | 24“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. |
| 25because you neglected all my advice, and did not comply with my rebuke, | 25You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. |
| 26so I myself will laugh when disaster strikes you, I will mock when what you dread comes, | 26So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you— |
| 27when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm, when distressing trouble comes on you. | 27when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. |
| 28Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me. | 28“When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. |
| 29Because they hated moral knowledge, and did not choose to fear the LORD, | 29For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. |
| 30they did not comply with my advice, they spurned all my rebuke. | 30They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. |
| 31Therefore they will eat from the fruit of their way, and they will be stuffed full of their own counsel. | 31Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes. |
| 32For the waywardness of the simpletons will kill them, and the careless ease of fools will destroy them. | 32For simpletons turn away from me—to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency. |
| 33But the one who listens to me will live in security, and will be at ease from the dread of harm. | 33But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.” |
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