Proverbs 9

Invitations of Wisdom and Folly

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up[a] its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city,
4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,
5 “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.”
7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through wisdom[b] your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
13 Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,
15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way,
16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.

Images for Proverbs 9

Cross References 26

  • 1. Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:5
  • 2. Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 62:8
  • 3. Luke 14:16-23
  • 4. S Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 8:1-3
  • 5. ver 14
  • 6. S Proverbs 1:22
  • 7. ver 16; S Proverbs 6:32
  • 8. John 7:37-38
  • 9. S Psalms 42:2; Psalms 63:1; Psalms 143:6; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 55:1
  • 10. S Proverbs 8:35
  • 11. S Proverbs 3:1-2
  • 12. Proverbs 23:9; Matthew 7:6
  • 13. Proverbs 15:12
  • 14. Psalms 141:5
  • 15. Proverbs 1:5,7; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 13:10; Proverbs 14:6; Proverbs 15:31; Proverbs 19:25
  • 16. Job 28:28; S Proverbs 1:7
  • 17. Psalms 22:3; Proverbs 30:3
  • 18. S Deuteronomy 4:6
  • 19. S Genesis 15:15; S Deuteronomy 11:21; S Proverbs 3:1-2; Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 10:27
  • 20. Proverbs 7:11
  • 21. S Proverbs 5:6
  • 22. ver 3; Ezekiel 16:25
  • 23. S Proverbs 1:20
  • 24. S Proverbs 1:22
  • 25. Proverbs 20:17
  • 26. S Proverbs 2:18; Proverbs 7:26-27

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew "has hewn out"
  • [b]. Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew "me"

Proverbs 9 Commentaries

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