Introduction

1 These words are the wise teachings of Solomon, the son of David. Solomon was the king of Israel. ²These words are written so that people can be wise and know the right things to do. These words will help people understand wise teachings. ³These words will teach people to develop their minds in the right way—people will learn the right way to be honest, fair, and good. ⁴These wise words can teach people who need to learn wisdom. These words can teach young people the things they need to know and how to use that information. ⁵Even wise people should listen to these words. They will learn more and become even wiser. And people who are skilled at solving problems will gain even more understanding. ⁶Then those people will be able to understand wise sayings and stories with hidden meanings. Those people will be able to understand the things wise men say. ⁷The first thing a person must learn is to respect and obey the Lord—that leads to true wisdom. But evil people hate discipline and true wisdom.

Solomon’s Advice to His Son

⁸My son,* listen to your father when he corrects you. And don’t ignore what your mother teaches you. ⁹The things your parents teach you are like a nice hat or a beautiful necklace that makes a person look even better.

Warning Against Joining with Bad People

¹⁰My son, some people love to do bad things—and those people will try to make you do bad things too. Don’t listen to them! ¹¹Those bad people might say, “Come with us! We are going to hide and wait for someone to kill. We will attack some innocent person. ¹²We will kill that person. We will send that person to the place of death. We will destroy that person and send him to the grave. ¹³We will steal all kinds of things worth lots of money. We will fill our houses with these things. ¹⁴So come with us and help us do these things. We will all share everything we get!” ¹⁵My son, don’t follow those people. Don’t even take the first step along that path. ¹⁶Those bad people race to do bad things. They are in a hurry to kill someone! ¹⁷People spread out nets to catch birds. But it is useless to set the trap while the birds are watching. ¹⁸So those bad people hide themselves and wait to kill someone. But really, they will be destroyed by their own trap! ¹⁹Greedy people are always destroyed by the things they take.

The Good Woman—Wisdom

²⁰Listen! Wisdom* is trying to teach people. She (Wisdom) is shouting in the streets and in the market place. ²¹She is calling out on the busy street corners. She is near the city gates trying to get people to listen to her. {Wisdom says:} ²²“You are foolish people. How long will you continue doing foolish things? How long will you make fun of wisdom? How long will you continue to hate knowledge? ²³You should have listened to my advice and teaching. I would have told you everything I knew. I would have given you all of my knowledge. ²⁴“But you refused to listen to me. I tried to help. I offered my hand—but you refused to accept my help. ²⁵You turned away and ignored all of my advice. You refused to accept my words. ²⁶So, I will laugh at your trouble. I will enjoy seeing trouble come to you! ²⁷Great trouble will come to you like a bad storm. Problems will hit you like a strong wind. Your troubles and sadness will be a very great burden on you. ²⁸“When all these things happen, you will ask for my help. But I will not help you. You will look for me, but you will not find me. ²⁹I will not help because you never wanted my knowledge. You refused to fear and respect the Lord. ³⁰You people refused to listen to my words of advice. You would not listen to me when I showed you the right way. ³¹You people lived the way you wanted to live. You followed your own advice. So now you must accept the result of your own actions! ³²“Foolish people die because they refuse to follow wisdom. They are happy to continue in their foolish ways, and this will destroy them. ³³But the person who obeys me will live safely. That person will be comfortable. He will not have to be afraid of evil.”

My son The book of Proverbs was probably written to a teenage boy that was becoming a young man. This book teaches him how to be a responsible young man who loves and respects God. Wisdom Solomon uses the picture of Wisdom and Foolishness as being two women. Both women are trying to get the attention of the young man Solomon is writing to. Wisdom is like a good woman calling the young man to be wise and obey God. Foolishness is like a bad woman calling the young man to be foolish and do many kinds of sin.

Listen to Wisdom

2 My son, accept these things I say. Remember my commands. ²Listen to wisdom, and try your best to understand. ³Cry out for wisdom, and shout for understanding. ⁴Look for wisdom like silver. Look for it like a hidden treasure. ⁵If you do these things, then you will learn to respect the Lord. You will truly learn about God. ⁶The Lord gives wisdom. Knowledge and understanding come from his mouth. ⁷He saves and protects good, honest people. ⁸He protects people who are fair to other people. He guards his holy people. ⁹So the Lord will give you his wisdom. Then you will understand the things that are good and fair and right. ¹⁰Wisdom will come into your heart, and your soul will be happy with knowledge. ¹¹Wisdom will protect you, and understanding will guard you. ¹²Wisdom and understanding will stop you from living the wrong way like evil people. Those people are evil even in the things they say. ¹³They have given up goodness and now live in darkness (sin). ¹⁴They are happy in doing wrong and enjoy the bad ways of evil. ¹⁵Those people can’t be trusted—they lie and cheat. But your wisdom and understanding will keep you away from all these things. ¹⁶Wisdom will save you from the woman stranger. Wisdom will save you from that foreign woman who says such sweet words when she tempts you to sin with her. ¹⁷She married when she was young—but she left her husband. She forgot the marriage vows she made before God. ¹⁸And now, going with her into her house leads to death! If you follow her, she will lead you to the grave! ¹⁹{She herself is like the grave}—men who go into her lose their life and never return. ²⁰Wisdom will help you follow the example of good people. Wisdom will help you live the way good people live. ²¹Good honest people will be able to live on their land. Simple honest people will get to keep their land. ²²But evil people will lose their land. People who lie and cheat will be taken away from the land.