Wisdom Calls Aloud

Wisdom calls out in the street,

she lifts her voice in the square;

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in the main concourse[fn] she cries aloud,

at the city vvv gates she makes her speech:

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“ How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple [ways]?

How long will scoffers delight in their scorn

and fools hate knowledge?

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If you had repented at my rebuke,

then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you;

I would have made my words known to you.

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Because you refused my call,

and no one took my outstretched hand,

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because you neglected all my counsel,

and wanted none of my correction,

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in turn I will mock your calamity;

I will sneer when terror strikes you,

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when your dread comes like a storm,

and your destruction like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish overwhelm you

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Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;

they {will} earnestly seek me, but {will} not find me.

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vvv For they hated knowledge

and chose not to fear the LORD.

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They accepted none of my counsel;

they despised all my reproof.

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So they {will} eat the fruit of their own way,

and be filled with their own devices.

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For the waywardness of the simple will slay them,

and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

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But whoever listens to me {will} dwell in safety,

secure from the fear of evil.” 2