Chapter 1

Purpose and Theme

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

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;

for understanding words of insight;

3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,

doing what is right and just and fair;

4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,

knowledge and discretion to the young—

5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance—

6 for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

9 They are a garland to grace your head

and a chain to adorn your neck.

10 My son, if sinful men entice you,

do not give in to them.

11 If they say, “Come along with us;

let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,

let’s ambush some harmless soul;

12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things

and fill our houses with plunder;

14 cast lots with us;

we will all share the loot”—

15 my son, do not go along with them,

do not set foot on their paths;

16 for their feet rush into evil,

they are swift to shed blood.

17 How useless to spread a net

where every bird can see it!

18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;

they ambush only themselves!

19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;

it takes away the life of those who get it.

Wisdom’s Rebuke

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,

she raises her voice in the public square;

21 on top of the wall she cries out,

at the city gate she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery

and fools hate knowledge?

23 Repent at my rebuke!

Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,

I will make known to you my teachings.

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call

and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,

25 since you disregard all my advice

and do not accept my rebuke,

26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;

I will mock when calamity overtakes you—

27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,

when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,

when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;

they will look for me but will not find me,

29 since they hated knowledge

and did not choose to fear the Lord.

30 Since they would not accept my advice

and spurned my rebuke,

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways

and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,

and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety

and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Chapter 2

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

1 My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding—

3 indeed, if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver

and search for it as for hidden treasure,

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 holds success in store for the upright,

he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

8 for he guards the course of the just

and protects the way of his faithful ones.

9 Then you will understand what is right and just

and fair—every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

11 Discretion will protect you,

and understanding will guard you.

12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,

from men whose words are perverse,

13 who have left the straight paths

to walk in dark ways,

14 who delight in doing wrong

and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

15 whose paths are crooked

and who are devious in their ways.

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words,

17 who has left the partner of her youth

and ignored the covenant she made before God.

18 Surely her house leads down to death

and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

19 None who go to her return

or attain the paths of life.

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will live in the land,

and the blameless will remain in it;

22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Chapter 3

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,

2 for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you peace and prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body

and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,

with the first fruits of all your crops;

10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,

and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,

those who gain understanding,

14 for she is more profitable than silver

and yields better returns than gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies;

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 pleasant ways,

and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;

those who hold her fast will be blessed.

19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,

by understanding he set the heavens in place;

20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,

and the clouds let drop the dew.

21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,

preserve sound judgment and discretion;

22 they will be life for you,

an ornament to grace your neck.

23 Then you will go on your way in safety,

and your foot will not stumble.

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

25 Have no fear of sudden disaster

or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

26 for the Lord will be at your side

and will keep your foot from being snared.

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

when it is in your power to act.

28 Do not say to your neighbor,

“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—

when you already have it with you.

29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,

who lives trustfully near you.

30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—

when they have done you no harm.

31 Do not envy the violent

or choose any of their ways.

32 For the Lord detests the perverse

but takes the upright into his confidence.

33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the home of the righteous.

34 He mocks proud mockers

but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

35 The wise inherit honor,

but fools get only shame.

Chapter 7

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.

6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law and Sin

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.