1 ²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street;
in the markets she raises her voice;
1 ²¹ on the top of the walls she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
1 ²² "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
1 ²³ Give heed to my reproof;
behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
1 ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
1 ²⁵ and you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
1 ²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
1 ²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
1 ²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
1 ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of Yahweh,
1 ³⁰ would have none of my counsel,
and despised all my reproof,
1 ³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
and be sated with their own devices.
1 ³² For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacence of fools destroys them;
1 ³³ but he who listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of evil."