3.1—Read Proverbs 1-4

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Read Proverbs 1-4.
2. Then, write a brief essay or discuss with your instructor the following questions: What is wisdom? How is wisdom described? Of what value is it? To what is wisdom contrasted?

SELECTION: Proverbs 1-4

Proverbs 1:

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

² To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head
    and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
    let us ambush the innocent without reason;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
    and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
¹³ we shall find all precious goods,
    we shall fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴ throw in your lot among us;
    we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵ my son, do not walk in the way with them;
    hold back your foot from their paths,
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
    and they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is a net spread
    in the sight of any bird,
¹⁸ but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
    they set an ambush for their own lives.
¹⁹ Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
    it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
    in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹ at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools hate knowledge?
²³ If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen,
    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵ because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when terror strikes you,
²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel
    and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
    and have their fill of their own devices.
³² For the simple are killed by their turning away,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Proverbs 2:

¹ My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
    and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ men whose paths are crooked,
    and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
    from the adulteress with her smooth words,
¹⁷ who forsakes the companion of her youth
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;
¹⁹ none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰ So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Proverbs 3:

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but let your heart keep my commandments,
² for length of days and years of life
    and peace they will add to you.

³ Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favor and good success
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty,
    and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
¹² for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³ Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
¹⁴ for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than jewels,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
    by understanding he established the heavens;
²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
    and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹ My son, do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²² and they will be life for your soul
    and adornment for your neck.
²³ Then you will walk on your way securely,
    and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴ If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵ Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
²⁶ for the Lord will be your confidence
    and will keep your foot from being caught.
²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
²⁹ Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who dwells trustingly beside you.
³⁰ Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
³¹ Do not envy a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
³² for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
    but the upright are in his confidence.
³³ The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
³⁴ Toward the scorners he is scornful,
    but to the humble he gives favor.
³⁵ The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get disgrace.

Proverbs 4:

¹ Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
² for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
³ When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴ he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live.
⁵ Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.
⁸ Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰ Hear, my son, and accept my words,
    that the years of your life may be many.
¹¹ I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹² When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴ Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵ Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰ My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
²² For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their flesh.
²³ Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴ Put away from you crooked speech,
    and put devious talk far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.