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The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, Who reigned in Israel;
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To know wisdom and instruction, And to perceive words of understanding;
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To receive also hard sayings, And to understand true justice, And how to direct judgment;
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That he might give subtlety to the simple, And to the young man discernment and understanding.
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For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, And the man of understanding will gain direction;
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And will understand a parable, and a dark speech; The sayings of the wise also, and riddles.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; And there is good understanding to all that practice it: And piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; But the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction.
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Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And reject not the rules of thy mother.
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For thou shalt receive for thy head a crown of graces, And a chain of gold round thy neck.
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My son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, Neither consent thou to them.
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If they should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, And let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
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And let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, And remove the memorial of him from the earth:
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Let us seize on his valuable property, And let us fill our houses with spoils:
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But do thou cast in thy lot with us, And let us all provide a common purse, And let us have one pouch:
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Go not in the way with them, But turn aside thy foot from their paths:
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For nets are not without cause spread for birds.
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For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; And the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
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These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; For by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
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Wisdom sings aloud in passages, And in the broad places speaks boldly.
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And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, And sits by the gates of princes; And at the gates of the city boldly says,
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So long as the simple cleave to justice, they shall not be ashamed: But the foolish being lovers of haughtiness, Having become ungodly have hated knowledge, And are become subject to reproofs.
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Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, And I will instruct you in my speech.
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Since I called, and ye did not hearken; And I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;
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But ye set at nought my counsels, And disregarded my reproofs;
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Therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; And I will rejoice against you when ruin comes upon you:
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Yea when dismay suddenly comes upon you, And your overthrow shall arrive like a tempest; And when tribulation and distress shall come upon you, Or when ruin shall come upon you.
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For it shall be that when ye call upon me, I will not hearken to you: Wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find me.
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For they hated wisdom, And did not choose the word of the Lord:
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Neither would they attend to my counsels, But derided my reproofs.
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Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, And shall be filled with their own ungodliness.
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For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; And an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.
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But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, And shall rest securely from all evil.