Tuesday, 6/11/24 - Proverbs 1 & 2

Purpose and Theme
1  ¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
² for gaining wisdom and instruction;
    for understanding words of insight;
³ for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
    doing what is right and just and fair;
⁴ for giving prudence to those who are simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the young—
⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
    and let the discerning get guidance—
⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
    the sayings and riddles of the wise.
⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
⁸ Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
⁹ They are a garland to grace your head
    and a chain to adorn your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinful men entice you,
    do not give in to them.
¹¹ If they say, “Come along with us;
    let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
    let’s ambush some harmless soul;
¹² let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
    and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
¹³ we will get all sorts of valuable things
    and fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴ cast lots with us;
    we will all share the loot”—
¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,
    do not set foot on their paths;
¹⁶ for their feet rush into evil,
    they are swift to shed blood.
¹⁷ How useless to spread a net
    where every bird can see it!
¹⁸ These men lie in wait for their own blood;
    they ambush only themselves!
¹⁹ Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
    it takes away the life of those who get it.

Wisdom’s Rebuke
²⁰ Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
    she raises her voice in the public square;
²¹ on top of the wall she cries out,
    at the city gate she makes her speech:
²² “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
    How long will mockers delight in mockery
    and fools hate knowledge?
²³ Repent at my rebuke!
    Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
    I will make known to you my teachings.
²⁴ But since you refuse to listen when I call
    and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
²⁵ since you disregard all my advice
    and do not accept my rebuke,
²⁶ I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
    I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
    when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

²⁸ “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
    they will look for me but will not find me,
²⁹ since they hated knowledge
    and did not choose to fear the Lord.
³⁰ Since they would not accept my advice
    and spurned my rebuke,
³¹ they will eat the fruit of their ways
    and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
³² For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety
    and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 ¹ My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.

¹² Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³ who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,
¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ whose paths are crooked
    and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.
¹⁸ Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
¹⁹ None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will live in the land,
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.