Proverbs 1:20-33
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom Cries Out Her Message in the Street[a]
20 Wisdom cries out in the street;
she raises her voice in the public squares.
21 She calls out on the crowded street corners;
at the city gates she proclaims her message:
22 “How long will you simple people continue to be fools?
How long will you mockers[b] delight in your mocking?
How long will you fools continue to hate knowledge?
23 If you would seriously consider my reproof,
I would pour out my thoughts to you
and make my precepts known to you.
24 “However, because you refused to listen to my call,
because no one heeded when I stretched out my hand,
25 and because you rejected all my counsel
and ignored all my warnings,
26 [c]I in my turn will laugh at your distress
and mock you when panic overwhelms you,
27 when terror suddenly strikes you like a hurricane
and your doom approaches like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will cry out to me but I will not answer;
they will search for me, but not find me.[d]
29 For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.[e]
30 They refused to accept my advice
and spurned all my warnings.
31 “Now they must eat the fruits of their conduct
and be glutted with the results of their schemes.[f]
32 For the stubbornness of the simple kills them;
fools come to final ruin by their own complacency.
33 But whoever listens to me will be secure
and live in peace, without fear of disaster.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:20 Here and in three other places in Proverbs (3:15-18; 8:1-36; 9:1-12), Wisdom is personified. People think of Wisdom as confined to palaces and schools, but she is present in public squares. Like the Prophets, she has a strong voice to preach, threaten, and encourage. Indeed, it is right in the middle of the daily affairs that one must listen to the call to conversion. We are called to state our views clearly; if we fail to do so, our days will slip away into meaninglessness. False securities cannot bring about the changes necessary in an existence devoid of deep attention.
- Proverbs 1:22 Mockers: i.e., those who are haughty (Prov 21:24), filled with insults, hatred, and strife (Prov 9:7-8; 22:10; 29:8), and reject correction (Prov 13:1; 15:12) that is due them (Prov 19:25; 21:11). Another name for them is “scoffers.”
- Proverbs 1:26 Wisdom laughs in reaction to the foolishness of the mockers who have rejected her warnings and brought ruin on themselves. They suffer the same fate as the scoundrel (Prov 6:12-15).
- Proverbs 1:28 When they are in trouble, the foolish will search for wisdom—but without success (e.g., see Jn 7:34; 8:21).
- Proverbs 1:29 Fear the Lord: see note on verse 7.
- Proverbs 1:31 Sinners reap the consequences of their actions (see Wis 11:16), and those who do find wisdom find life and blessing (see Prov 1:32; 3:13; 8:17, 35; 14:14). “A person will reap only what he sows” (Gal 6:7).
