1 These are proverbs of Solomon, son of David,
king of Israel:
2 for you to obtain wisdom and instruction,
to penetrate words of significance,
3 to acquire well-ordered knowledge,
and become just with discernment and integrity.
4 Simple people will become clever
and the young will acquire understanding and foresight.
5 Let the wise man listen: he will add to his learning,
and the man of sound judgment will acquire skill,
6 to understand the proverbs and sayings,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The beginning of knowledge is the fear of Yahweh,
only fools have contempt for wisdom and discipline.
Avoid the company of evildoers
8 Listen, my son, to the teaching of your father, do not ignore your
mother¡¯s instruction:
9 for they will be your graceful crown, a precious chain around your neck.
10 My son, if sinners try to tempt you, do not give in.
11 They will invite you, ¡°Come with us, let us spill blood, let us ambush
the innocent without a second thought.
12 We will engulf them as does the netherworld and snatch them suddenly as
does death.
13 We will help ourselves to many riches and fill our houses with booty.
14 Join forces with us; one purse will be shared between us!¡±
15 My son, do not go with them, do not set foot along their way.
16 See how they speed on to evil! How they hasten to spill blood!
17 What bird would fall into a trap if you set it up in its sight?
18 But these people stalk them selves and set a trap for their own lives.
19 Such is the lot of all who live by plunder: plunder will rob them of
their own lives.
Listen to me today
20 Wisdom shouts aloud in the streets, she raises her voice in the market
place;
21 at street corners she cries; she delivers her speeches at the city gates:
22 ¡°You ignorant people, how long will you continue to cling to your
foolishness? How long will mockers revel in their mockery, and fools have
contempt for knowledge?
23 Listen to my warning. I will now pour my spirit upon you and make you
know my words.
24 Indeed if I cry out and you refuse to listen, if I offer my hand and no
one cares,
25 if you ignore my advice and reject my warning,
26 I, in turn, will laugh at your disaster, I will sneer when terror grips
you;
27 when terror comes down on you like a hurricane, and distress and anxiety
befall you.
28 Then people will cry to me but I will not respond. They will seek me but
will not find me,
29 because they despised knowledge and did not choose the fear of Yahweh;
30 they would not listen to any advice and they rejected all my warnings.
31 They will harvest the fruit of their evil ways and have their fill of
their own designs.
32 For the error of the ignorant leads to death, the idleness of fools
brings about their ruin.
33 But whoever listens to me will feel secure and at ease, without fear of
evil.¡±
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Comments Proverbs, Chapter 1
• 1.1 From the beginning, people are divided into two groups. On one hand,
the wise which includes the intelligent, clever and responsible; on the
other hand, the foolish, including also those who are stupid, lying and
evil.
The beginning of knowledge is the fear of Yahweh. This word ¡°fear¡± does not
have for us the meaning it had in the Bible. It is not, in fact, a matter of
being afraid of God, but to be conscious of acting in his presence and of
being responsible to him. Those who ¡°fear Yahweh¡± make fidelity and
obedience to his word the basis of their decisions.
• 20. An invitation to be converted today. Tomorrow will be too late. Jesus
will say the same: Matthew 7:21 and 25:1.
Wisdom shouts aloud in the streets. Who will be able to say that no one
awakened him and showed him the way? Subhuman conditions of life make a
people irresponsible, but irresponsible people also make a subhuman world.
All are invited, however, to come out of their passivity.
They did not choose the fear of Yahweh. It is easy to excuse oneself: ¡°There
is no malice on my part; it is a question of negligence.¡± Wisdom rejects
these excuses. Negligence is a form of contempt for God.