Study Desk

Wisdom shouts in the street, She raises her voice in the public square;

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:

She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

"How long, you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking? And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

"Turn to my rebuke, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

"Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

And you neglected all my advice And did not want my rebuke;

But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

I will also laugh at your disaster; I will mock when your dread comes,

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

When your dread comes like a storm And your disaster comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

"Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but will not find me,

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord :

"They did not accept my advice, They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.

They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

"So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own schemes.

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

"For the faithlessness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

"But whoever listens to me will live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil."

But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.