1

The Beginning of Knowledge

¹The ⚓proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
²To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
³To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
⁴To give prudence to the ⚓simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
⁵⚓A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
⁶To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their ⚓riddles.
⁷⚓The fear of the Lordis the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Shun Evil Counsel

⁸⚓My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
⁹For they will be a ⚓graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you,
⚓Do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us,
Let us ⚓lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹²Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, ⚓like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵My son, ⚓do not walk in the way with them,
⚓Keep your foot from their path;
¹⁶⚓For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
¹⁹⚓So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰⚓Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
²¹She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
²²“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
²³Turn at my rebuke;
Surely ⚓I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴⚓Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
²⁵Because you ⚓disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
²⁶⚓I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
²⁷When ⚓your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸“Then⚓ they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
²⁹Because they ⚓hated knowledge
And did not ⚓choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰⚓They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
³¹Therefore ⚓they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
³²For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³But whoever listens to me will dwell ⚓safely,
And ⚓will be secure, without fear of evil.”

1

Tej Pajlug no Muaj Nujnqis

¹Tej pajlug no yog Vajntxwv Daviv tus tub Xalumoos uas ua vajntxwv kav haivneeg Yixalayees tej pajlug. ²Tej no yuav pab kom yus paub hais tias lub tswvyim thiab tej lus qhuab ntuas zoo li cas, thiab yuav pab kom totaub tej ntsiab lus uas tob tob. ³Yuav qhia yus paub ua neej ntse ntsuav, paub ua neeg siab dawb siab zoo, paub ua qhov ncaj ncees, thiab ua raws kev raws cai. ⁴Yuav pab tau tus uas tsis thoob tsib to nrog txawj ntse tuaj thiab yuav qhia cov tub hluas paub ua neej. ⁵Yuav tsav tswvyim rau cov neeg uas twb txawj ntse lawm, yuav taw kev rau cov neeg uas kawm ntaub kawm ntawv ⁶kom lawv paub txhais tej pajlug lub ntsiab thiab totaub tej zaj uas cov neeg txawj ntse hais.

Tej lus Qhuab Ntuas Cov Tub Hluas

⁷Tus uas hwm tus TSWV, tus ntawd thiaj yog tus uas muaj kev txawj ntse. Cov neeg ruam nyiam thuam lub tswvyim thiab tsis kawm txuj kawm ci.
⁸Metub, cia li ua tib zoo mloog tej lus uas koj niam thiab koj txiv qhuab qhia koj. ⁹Niam thiab txiv tej lus qhia yuav pab kom koj paub ua lub neej zoo ib yam li cev zam uas ua rau koj zoo nraug.
¹⁰Metub, thaum cov neeg siab phem tuaj yaum koj mus ua txhaum, koj tsis txhob nrog lawv mus. ¹¹Yog lawv hais tias, “Cia li nrog peb mus, peb mus tos kev tua neeg! Peb cia li mus ntes tej neeg tsis muaj txim dabtsi los ntaus ua si! ¹²Thaum peb ntsib lawv, lawv tseem muaj sia nyob ncus plaws, tiamsis thaum peb mus dhau lawm, lawv yuav tu siav nrho. ¹³Peb yuav mus huab luag tej khoom muaj nqis thiab coj tej uas peb huab tau los khaws cia puv nkaus rau hauv peb tej tsev. ¹⁴Koj cia li nrog peb mus thiab koom nrog peb, peb yuav muab tej uas peb mus huab tau los ntawd sib faib.”
¹⁵Metub, koj tsis txhob nrog cov neeg zoo li ntawd ua ke. Koj yuav tsum khiav tawm ntawm lawv mus. ¹⁶Lawv cov ntawd tswj tsis tau lawv lub siab kom tsis txhob ua txhaum. Lawv npaj rawv yuav tua neeg xwb. ¹⁷Yog cuab tsig rau noog pom yeej tsis mag noog ib zaug li, ¹⁸tiamsis cov neeg uas cuab hlua tos lwm tus kev yog lawv cuab hlua tos lawv xwb, lawv yeej yuav tuag rau lawv lub vojhlua. ¹⁹Kev ua tubsab los kuj ib yam li ntawd, cov neeg uas ua nruj ua tsiv rau luag yog lawv txov lawv txojsia.

Lub Tswvyim Tej Lus Nqua Hu

²⁰Cia li mloog! Tswvyim lub suab hu tom tej kev thiab tom tej kiab tej khw, ²¹thiab hu nrov ntxhe ntws tom tej roojvag nroog thiab txhua qhov chaw uas muaj neeg tuaj txoos ua ke hais tias,
²²“Cov neeg ruam! Nej tseem yuav zoo siab ua neeg ruam li nej mus txog hnub twg? Nej yuav thuam kev txawj ntse mus txog thaum twg thiab? ²³Nej tsis totaub li los? Cia li tig qhovntsej mloog thaum kuv ntuas nej, kuv yuav qhia tej lus zoo rau nej thiab yuav faib kuv tej tswvyim rau nej. ²⁴Kuv twb hu nej thiab caw nej los mloog kuv hais lawm, tiamsis nej tsis tig qhovntsej mloog thiab tsis quavntsej kuv tej lus. ²⁵Nej tsis khaws kuv tej lus qhia cia rau nruab siab, thiab tsis kam cia kuv qhuab ntuas nej. ²⁶Yog li ntawd, thaum nej raug kev nyuaj siab ntxhov plawv kuv yuav tuaj dabros. ²⁷Thaum nej txhawj ntshai thiab kev txomnyem los qhwv nkaus nej ib yam li nthwv cua daj cua dub ntsawj, ua rau nej raug mob ntsaj laws thiab raug kev txomnyem, kuv yuav tau zoo luag nej. ²⁸Thaum ntawd nej yuav tsa ncauj hu xav tau tswvyim, tiamsis kuv yuav tsis teb nej. Nej nrhiav kuv rau txhua txoj xubke, tiamsis nej yuav nrhiav tsis pom kuv nyob qhov twg. ²⁹Nej yeej ibtxwm tsis quavntsej tej kev txawj ntse thiab nej pheej tsis kam mloog tus TSWV tej lus li. ³⁰Nej yeej tsis khaws kuv tej lus qhia cia, thiab thaum kuv qhuab ntuas nej, nej tsis quavntsej kuv tej lus hlo li. ³¹Vim li no nej yuav tau sau raws li tej uas nej tau ua los lawm, thiab nej tes haujlwm yuav ua rau nej dhuav. ³²Tej neeg tsis paub qabhau tuag twb yog vim lawv tsis txais yuav lub tswvyim, thiab tej neeg ruam puastsuaj twb yog vim lawv tsis quavntsej kev txawj ntse. ³³Tiamsis tus uas mloog kuv lus, tus ntawd yuav nyob khov kho thiab tso siab plhuav tsis ntshai ib yam dabtsi li.”