New International Version

Proverbs 1:5-16 New International Version (NIV)

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.

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.