Proverbs 1 - Easy To Read Version1 These words are the wise teachings of Solomon, the son of David. Solomon was the king of Israel. 2 These words are written so that people can be wise and know the right things to do. These words will help people understand wise teachings. 3 These words will teach people to develop their minds in the right way—people will learn the right way to be honest, fair, and good. 4 These 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. 5 Even 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. 6 Then 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. 7 The 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. 8 My son, {\cf2\super [1]} listen to your father when he corrects you. And don’t ignore what your mother teaches you. 9 The things your parents teach you are like a nice hat or a beautiful necklace that makes a person look even better. 10 My 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! 11 Those bad people might say, “Come with us! We are going to hide and wait for someone to kill. We will attack some innocent person. 12 We 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. 13 We will steal all kinds of things worth lots of money. We will fill our houses with these things. 14 So come with us and help us do these things. We will all share everything we get!” 15 My son, don’t follow those people. Don’t even take the first step along that path. 16 Those bad people race to do bad things. They are in a hurry to kill someone! 17 People spread out nets to catch birds. But it is useless to set the trap while the birds are watching. 18 So those bad people hide themselves and wait to kill someone. But really, they will be destroyed by their own trap! 19 Greedy people are always destroyed by the things they take. 20 Listen! Wisdom {\cf2\super [2]} is trying to teach people. She (Wisdom) is shouting in the streets and in the market place. 21 She 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? 23 You 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. 25 You turned away and ignored all of my advice. You refused to accept my words. 26 So, I will laugh at your trouble. I will enjoy seeing trouble come to you! 27 Great 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. 29 I will not help because you never wanted my knowledge. You refused to fear and respect the Lord. 30 You people refused to listen to my words of advice. You would not listen to me when I showed you the right way. 31 You 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. 33 But the person who obeys me will live safely. That person will be comfortable. He will not have to be afraid of evil.” |
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