The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction;
To discern the words of understanding;
To receive instruction in wise dealing,
In righteousness and justice and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion:
That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning;
And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:
To understand a proverb, and {Or, an interpretation}a figure,
The words of the wise, and their {Or, riddles}dark sayings.
The fear of Jehovah is the {Or, chief part}beginning of knowledge;
But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
And forsake not the {Or, teaching}law of thy mother:
For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head,
And chains about thy neck.
My son, if sinners entice thee,
Consent thou not.
If they say, Come with us,
Let us lay wait for blood;
Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,
{Or, Even the perfect}And whole, as those that go down into the pit;
We shall find all precious substance;
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
{Or, Cast in thy lot}Thou shalt cast thy lot among us;
We will all have one purse:
My son, walk not thou in the way with them;
Refrain thy foot from their path:
For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
For in vain is the net spread
In the sight of any bird:
And these lay wait for their own blood;
They lurk privily for their own lives.
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;
It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Wisdom crieth aloud in the street;
She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
She crieth {Hebrew: at the head of the noisy streets.}in the chief place of concourse;
At the entrance of the gates,
In the city, she uttereth her words:
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
And scoffers delight them in scoffing,
And fools hate knowledge?
Turn you at my reproof:
Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;
I will make known my words unto you.
Because I have called, and ye have refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;
But ye have set at nought all my counsel,
And would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;
I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as a {Or, desolation}storm,
And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind;
When distress and anguish come upon you.
Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me {Or, early}diligently, but they shall not find me:
For that they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:
They would none of my counsel;
They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own devices.
For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,
And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely,
And shall be quiet without fear of evil.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 1,13 Spr 1,13
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
There are that remove the landmarks;They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
For he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down {Or, the inhabitants}them that sit on thrones:
and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy {Or, dishonest gain}covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: {Or, for even in a man's abundance his life is not from the things which he possesseth}for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all {Or, evils.}kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived {Or, luxuriously}wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,
standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their {Greek: cargo.}merchandise any more;
{Greek: cargo.}merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
and cinnamon, and {Greek: amomum.}spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and {Greek: bodies. Genesis 36:6 (Septuagint Version)}slaves; and {Or, lives}souls of men.
And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all.
The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and {Greek: gilded.}decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!