^1. Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out 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 maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.

^4. "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.

^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 understanding.

^7. "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.

^8. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

^9. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

^10. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

^11. For through me 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. The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.

^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 in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.

^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 in the depths of the grave. [1]