Proverbs 1:1-20 (Vespers, 2nd reading)
- 1
- The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
- 2
- To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,
- 3
- To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;
- 4
- To 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,
- 6
- To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
- 7
- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
- 8
- My son, hear the instruction of your father,
- 9
- For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
- 10
- My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
- 11
- If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
- 12
- Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
- 13
- We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;
- 14
- Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse” –
- 15
- My 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.
- 17
- Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;
- 18
- But 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.
- 20
- Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.