Proverbs 9

New International Version

• 1. Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.
• 2. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
• 3. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.
• 4. "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
• 5. "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
• 6. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.
• 7. "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
• 8. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
• 9. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
• 10. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
• 11. For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.
• 12. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
• 13. The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.
• 14. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,
• 15. calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.
• 16. "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.
• 17. "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"
• 18. But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

New International Version