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Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the public squares;
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at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
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“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
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If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
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But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
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since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
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I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
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when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
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“Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
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Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord,
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since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
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they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
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For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
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but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”