Proverbs · 33 verses

Proverbs 1

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

Wisdom makes a speech at the city gates, then promises to mock the people who call for her in the storm—and says she will not be found.

The visible netvv. 1–19

The proverbs begin with Solomon and a very full programme: wisdom, discipline, insight, righteousness, justice, equity, prudence, knowledge, discretion, counsel, parables, sayings, and riddles. Then the father and mother take over, and the sinners arrive with a proposal of astonishingly bad business: blood first, plunder afterwards, and one shared purse. Their intended victims are treated as loot, while their own plot quietly turns into a snare. The bird can see the net; the plotters, rather less so.

Wisdom at the gatesvv. 20–33

Wisdom is not tucked away in a study. She calls in the street, raises her voice in the square, cries aloud in the main concourse, and delivers her speech at the city gates. Her complaint is aimed at the simple, the scoffers, and the fools, who have declined her counsel and correction. The remarkable turn comes when calamity arrives: Wisdom will mock, sneer, refuse to answer, and remain impossible to find. The speech ends with two kinds of harvest—one made from a person's own way and devices, the other belonging to whoever listens.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

  1. Prov 1:1These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

  2. Prov 1:2for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,

  3. Prov 1:3and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.

  4. Prov 1:4To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,

  5. Prov 1:5let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

  6. Prov 1:6by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

  7. Prov 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

  8. Prov 1:8Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

  9. Prov 1:9For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

  10. Prov 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.

  11. Prov 1:11If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

  12. Prov 1:12let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

  13. Prov 1:13We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder.

  14. Prov 1:14Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”—

  15. Prov 1:15my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

  16. Prov 1:16For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

  17. Prov 1:17How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!

  18. Prov 1:18But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

  19. Prov 1:19Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

  20. Prov 1:20Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

  21. Prov 1:21in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:

  22. Prov 1:22“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

  23. Prov 1:23If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

  24. Prov 1:24Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,

  25. Prov 1:25because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

  26. Prov 1:26in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,

  27. Prov 1:27when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

  28. Prov 1:28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

  29. Prov 1:29For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

  30. Prov 1:30They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

  31. Prov 1:31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

  32. Prov 1:32For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

  33. Prov 1:33But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 362 passages were voted onto 32 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

  • 7Job 28:28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
  • 7Psalms 111:10–1The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
  • 7Proverbs 9:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
  • 7Ecclesiastes 12:13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
  • 7Proverbs 15:33The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
  • 5Proverbs 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
  • 1Proverbs 10:1The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
  • 7Proverbs 18:2A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.
  • 33Psalms 25:12–13Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.
  • 7Romans 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
  • 7Proverbs 1:29–30For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.
  • 7Proverbs 1:22“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
  • 10Ephesians 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
  • 3Proverbs 2:1–9My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
  • 5Proverbs 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
  • 7Proverbs 15:5A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction is prudent.

Onward

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