# Proverbs 1 (New King James Version)
The Beginning of Knowledge

##### Chapter 1
###### 1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

###### 2 To know wisdom and instruction,  
To perceive the words of understanding,  

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

###### 4 To give prudence to the simple,  
To the young man knowledge and discretion--  

###### 5 A wise _man_ will hear and increase learning,  
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,  

###### 6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,  
The words of the wise and their riddles.

###### 7 The fear of the Lord _is_ the beginning of knowledge,  
_But_ fools despise wisdom and instruction.Shun Evil Counsel

###### 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,  
And do not forsake the law of your mother;  

###### 9 For they _will be_ a graceful ornament on your head,  
And chains about your neck.

###### 10 My son, if sinners entice you,  
Do not consent.  

###### 11 If they say, "Come with us,  
Let us lie in wait to _shed_ blood;  
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;  

###### 12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,  
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;  

###### 13 We shall find all _kinds_ of precious possessions,  
We shall fill our houses with spoil;  

###### 14 Cast in your lot among us,  
Let us all have one purse"--  

###### 15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,  
Keep your foot from their path;  

###### 16 For their feet run to evil,  
And they make haste to shed blood.  

###### 17 Surely, in vain the net is spread  
In the sight of any bird;  

###### 18 But they lie in wait for their _own_ blood,  
They lurk secretly for their _own_ lives.  

###### 19 So _are_ the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;  
It takes away the life of its owners.The Call of Wisdom

###### 20 Wisdom calls aloud outside;  
She raises her voice in the open squares.  

###### 21 She cries out in the chief concourses,  
At the openings of the gates in the city  
She speaks her words:  

###### 22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?  
For scorners delight in their scorning,  
And fools hate knowledge.  

###### 23 Turn at my rebuke;  
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;  
I will make my words known to you.  

###### 24 Because I have called and you refused,  
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,  

###### 25 Because you disdained all my counsel,  
And would have none of my rebuke,  

###### 26 I also will laugh at your calamity;  
I will mock when your terror comes,  

###### 27 When your terror comes like a storm,  
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,  
When distress and anguish come upon you.

###### 28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;  
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.  

###### 29 Because they hated knowledge  
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,  

###### 30 They would have none of my counsel  
_And_ despised my every rebuke.  

###### 31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,  
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.  

###### 32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,  
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;  

###### 33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,  
And will be secure, without fear of evil."