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Being Wise or Foolish

Wisdom has built her house;
    she has made its seven ·columns [pillars; C a large house].
She has ·prepared her food [L slaughtered her slaughter] and prepared [mixed] her wine;
    she has set her table.
She has sent out her servant girls,
    and she calls out from the highest place in the city [C the location of the Temple, indicating she symbolizes God].
She says to those who are ·uneducated [naive; immature; simpleminded],
    “·Come in [Turn aside] here, you ·foolish people [who lack sense]!
Come and eat my food
    and drink the wine I have ·prepared [mixed].
Stop your ·foolish [naive; immature; simpleminded] ways, and you will live;
    take the road of understanding.

“If you ·correct [instruct; discipline] ·someone who makes fun of wisdom [a mocker], you will be insulted.
    If you correct an evil person, you will ·get hurt [L be blemished].
Do not correct ·those who make fun of wisdom [mockers], or they will hate you.
    But correct the wise, and they will love you.
·Teach [L Give to] the wise, and they will become even wiser;
    ·teach [inform] ·good people [the righteous], and they will ·learn even more [L add to their learning].

10 “Wisdom begins with ·respect [fear; awe] for the Lord,
    and understanding begins with knowing the Holy One.
11 ·If you live wisely [L Through/By me], you will live a long time;
    wisdom will add years to your life.
12 The wise person is rewarded by wisdom,
    but ·whoever makes fun of wisdom will suffer for it [L mockers will bear it alone].”

13 ·Foolishness is like a loud woman [Woman Folly is boisterous/noisy];
    she ·does not have wisdom or knowledge [L is ignorant and does not even know it].
14 She sits at the door of her house
    at the highest place in the city [9:3; C her house is built on the highest point of the city, indicating she symbolizes false gods].
15 She ·calls out to [invites] those who are passing by,
    who are going along, minding their own business.
16 She says to those who ·are uneducated [lack sense/heart],
    “·Come in [Turn aside] here, you ·foolish [naive; immature; simpleminded] people!
17 Stolen water is sweeter,
    and food eaten in secret tastes better.”
18 But these people don’t know that ·everyone who goes there dies [the dead/departed/shades are there],
    that her guests ·end up deep in the grave [L are in the depths of Sheol].

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