| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: | 1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: |
| 2To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, | 2To learn wisdom and moral instruction, and to discern wise counsel. |
| 3To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; | 3To receive moral instruction in skillful living, in righteousness, justice, and equity. |
| 4To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— | 4To impart shrewdness to the morally naive, and a discerning plan to the young person. |
| 5A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, | 5(Let the wise also hear and gain instruction, and let the discerning acquire guidance!) |
| 6To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. | 6To discern the meaning of a proverb and a parable, the sayings of the wise and their riddles. |
| 7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. | 7Fearing the LORD is the beginning of moral knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. |
| 8My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; | 8Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. |
| 9For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck. | 9For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck. |
| 10My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. | 10My child, if sinners try to 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; | 11If they say, "Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously. |
| 12Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit; | 12We will swallow them alive like Sheol, those full of vigor like those going down to the Pit. |
| 13We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil; | 13We will seize all kinds of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder. |
| 14Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”— | 14Join with us! We will all share equally in what we steal." |
| 15My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; | 15My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path; |
| 16For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. | 16for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood. |
| 17Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; | 17Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird, |
| 18But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. | 18but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives! |
| 19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners. | 19Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it! |
| 20Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. | 20Wisdom calls out in the street, she shouts loudly in the plazas; |
| 21She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: | 21at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she utters her words: |
| 22“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. | 22"How long will you simpletons love naivete? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? |
| 23Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. | 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. |
| 24Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, | 24However, because I called but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention, |
| 25Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, | 25because you neglected all my advice, and did not comply with my rebuke, |
| 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, | 26so I myself will laugh when disaster strikes you, I will mock when what you dread comes, |
| 27When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. | 27when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm, when distressing trouble comes on you. |
| 28“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. | 28Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me. |
| 29Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, | 29Because they hated moral knowledge, and did not choose to fear the LORD, |
| 30They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. | 30they did not comply with my advice, they spurned all my rebuke. |
| 31Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. | 31Therefore they will eat from the fruit of their way, and they will be stuffed full of their own counsel. |
| 32For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; | 32For the waywardness of the simpletons will kill them, and the careless ease of fools will destroy them. |
| 33But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.” | 33But the one who listens to me will live in security, and will be at ease from the dread of harm. |
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