Proverbs 9

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Wisdom builds her house with seven pillars, prepares a feast with meat and mixed wine, and sends her maidservants to call the simple from the city heights to eat her bread and leave their folly. The text contrasts responses to correction, noting that rebuking a mocker brings hate while rebuking or instructing a wise person brings love and increased learning, and states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Meanwhile, a loud and naive woman named Folly sits at her doorway in the city heights and calls out to passersby, inviting the simple to consume stolen water and secret bread. Those who accept Folly's invitation remain unaware that her guests reside in the depths of Sheol.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. ²She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. ³She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city. ⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment. ⁵“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed. ⁶Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.” ⁷He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself. ⁸Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. ⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning. ¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. ¹¹For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. ¹²If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences. ¹³The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing. ¹⁴She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city, ¹⁵calling out to those who pass by, who make their paths straight. ¹⁶“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment. ¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!” ¹⁸But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.