Proverbs 1 in the early church

Proverbs 1 as a whole

Proverbs 1:1

These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

Proverbs 1:2

for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,

Proverbs 1:3

and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.

Proverbs 1:4

To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,

Proverbs 1:5

let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

Proverbs 1:6

by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:8

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

Proverbs 1:9

For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

Proverbs 1:10

My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.

Proverbs 1:11

If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

Proverbs 1:12

let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

Proverbs 1:13

We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder.

Proverbs 1:14

Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”—

Proverbs 1:15

my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

Proverbs 1:16

For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

Proverbs 1:17

How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!

Proverbs 1:18

But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

Proverbs 1:19

Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

Proverbs 1:20

Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

Proverbs 1:21

in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:

Proverbs 1:22

“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 1:23

If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

Proverbs 1:24

Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,

Proverbs 1:25

because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

Proverbs 1:26

in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,

Proverbs 1:27

when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

Proverbs 1:28

Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

Proverbs 1:29

For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

Proverbs 1:31

So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Proverbs 1:32

For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

Proverbs 1:33

But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”