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PROVERBS
[1:1] The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
[1:2] To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
[1:3] To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
[1:4] To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
[1:5] A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
[1:6] To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
[1:7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
[1:8] My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother
[1:9] For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
[1:10] My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
[1:11] If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause
[1:12] Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit
[1:13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil
[1:14] Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse
[1:15] My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path
[1:16] For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
[1:17] Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
[1:18] And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
[1:19] So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
[1:20] Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets
[1:21] She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
[1:22] How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
[1:23] Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
[1:24] Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
[1:25] But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
[1:26] I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
[1:27] When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
[1:28] Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
[1:29] For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD
[1:30] They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
[1:31] Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
[1:32] For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
[1:33] But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
[2:1] My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
[2:2] So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
[2:3] Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
[2:4] If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
[2:5] Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
[2:6] For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
[2:7] He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
[2:8] He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
[2:9] Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
[2:10] When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
[2:11] Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee
[2:12] To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
[2:13] Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
[2:14] Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
[2:15] Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths
[2:16] To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
[2:17] Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
[2:18] For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
[2:19] None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
[2:20] That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
[2:21] For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
[2:22] But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
[3:1] My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments
[3:2] For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
[3:3] Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart
[3:4] So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
[3:5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[3:6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[3:7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
[3:8] It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
[3:9] Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase
[3:10] So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
[3:11] My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction
[3:12] For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
[3:13] Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
[3:14] For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
[3:15] She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
[3:16] Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
[3:17] Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
[3:18] She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
[3:19] The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
[3:20] By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
[3:21] My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion
[3:22] So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.
[3:23] Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
[3:24] When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
[3:25] Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
[3:26] For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
[3:27] Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
[3:28] Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
[3:29] Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
[3:30] Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
[3:31] Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
[3:32] For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
[3:33] The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
[3:34] Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
[3:35] The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
[4:1] Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
[4:2] For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
[4:3] For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
[4:4] He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
[4:5] Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
[4:6] Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
[4:7] Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
[4:8] Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
[4:9] She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
[4:10] Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
[4:11] I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
[4:12] When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
[4:13] Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
[4:14] Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
[4:15] Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
[4:16] For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
[4:17] For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
[4:18] But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
[4:19] The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
[4:20] My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
[4:21] Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
[4:22] For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
[4:23] Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
[4:24] Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
[4:25] Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
[4:26] Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
[4:27] Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
[5:1] My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding
[5:2] That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
[5:3] For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil
[5:4] But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
[5:5] Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
[5:6] Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
[5:7] Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
[5:8] Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house
[5:9] Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel
[5:10] Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;