New Living Translation

1 Wisdom has built her house;<br>she has carved its seven columns.<br> 2 She has prepared a great banquet,<br>mixed the wines, and set the table.<br> 3 She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come.<br>She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.<br> 4 “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.<br>To those who lack good judgment, she says,<br> 5 “Come, eat my food,<br>and drink the wine I have mixed.<br> 6 Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live;<br>learn to use good judgment.”<br> 7 Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.<br>Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.<br> 8 So don’t bother correcting mockers;<br>they will only hate you.<br>But correct the wise,<br>and they will love you.<br> 9 Instruct the wise,<br>and they will be even wiser.<br>Teach the righteous,<br>and they will learn even more.<br> 10 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom.<br>Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.<br> 11 Wisdom will multiply your days<br>and add years to your life.<br> 12 If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.<br>If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.<br> 13 The woman named Folly is brash.<br>She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.<br> 14 She sits in her doorway<br>on the heights overlooking the city.<br> 15 She calls out to men going by<br>who are minding their own business.<br> 16 “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.<br>To those who lack good judgment, she says,<br> 17 “Stolen water is refreshing;<br>food eaten in secret tastes the best!”<br> 18 But little do they know that the dead are there.<br>Her guests are in the depths of the grave.<br>