מִשְׁלֵי

Ketuvim - כְּתוּבִים

Mishlei - Chapter 1

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to comprehend the words of understanding; To receive the discipline of wisdom, justice, and right, 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 the man of understanding may attain unto wise counsels; To understand a proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and discipline. {P}

Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching 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, {N} let us lie in wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those that go down into the pit; We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil; Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse’ — My son, walk not thou in the way with them, restrain thy foot from their path; For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

For in vain the net is spread in the eyes of any bird; And these lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk 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 streets, she uttereth her voice in the broad places; She calleth at the head of the noisy streets, at the entrances of the gates, in the city, she uttereth her words: ‘How long, ye thoughtless, will ye love thoughtlessness? {N} And how long will scorners delight them in scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man attended, But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also, in your calamity, will laugh, I will mock when your dread cometh; When your dread cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; {N} when trouble and distress come upon you.

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

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD; 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 waywardness of the thoughtless shall slay them, and the confidence of fools shall destroy them.

But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, and shall be quiet without fear of evil.’ {P}

Mishlei - Chapter 2

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and lay up my commandments with thee; So that thou make thine ear attend unto wisdom, and thy heart incline to discernment; Yea, if thou call for understanding, and lift up thy voice for discernment; If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and discernment; He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to them that walk in integrity; That He may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of His godly ones.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, and equity, yea, every good path.

For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall watch over thee, discernment shall guard thee; To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil; Who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths; To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words; That forsaketh the lord of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

For her house sinketh down unto death, and her paths unto the shades; None that go unto her return, neither do they attain unto the paths of life; That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the whole-hearted shall remain in it.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the faithless shall be plucked up out of it. {P}

Mishlei - Chapter 3

My son, forget not my teaching; but let thy heart keep my commandments; For length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to thee.

Let not kindness and truth forsake thee; {N} bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thy heart; So shalt thou find grace and good favour in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all thy heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD, and depart from evil; It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD, neither spurn thou His correction; For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth, {N} even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that obtaineth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that holdest her fast. {P}

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.

By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion; So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, and thou shalt not dash thy foot.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Be not afraid of sudden terror, neither of the destruction of the wicked, when it cometh; For the LORD will be thy confidence, and will keep thy foot from being caught.

Withhold not good from him to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.

Say not unto thy neighbour: ‘Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give’; when thou hast it by thee.

Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

Envy thou not the man of violence, and choose none of his ways.

For the perverse is an abomination to the LORD; but His counsel is with the upright.

The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked; but He blesseth the habitation of the righteous.

If it concerneth the scorners, He scorneth them, but unto the humble He giveth grace.

The wise shall inherit honour; but as for the fools, they carry away shame. {P}