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 1,18 Spr 1,18
His own iniquities shall take the wicked,And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
He shall die for lack of instruction;And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Stolen waters are sweet,And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
But he knoweth not that {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead are there;That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
A man that is laden with the blood of any personShall flee unto the pit; let no man stay him.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
Behold, he travaileth with iniquity;Yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
He hath made a pit, and digged it,And is fallen into the ditch which he made.
His mischief shall return upon his own head,And his violence shall come down upon his own pate.
Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment: {Or, He snareth the wicked}The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. [Higgaion. Selah.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
saying, I have sinned in that I {See marginal note on chapter 10:4.}betrayed {Many ancient authorities read righteous.}innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? see thou to it.
And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.