20
Wisdom shouts in the streets.
She cries out in the public square.
21
She calls to the crowds along the main street,
to those gathered in front of the city gate:
22
“How long, you simpletons,
will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
23
Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise.
24
“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
25
You ignored my advice
and rejected the correction I offered.
26
So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
I will mock you when disaster overtakes you -
27
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you.
28
“When they cry for help, I will not answer.
Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
29
For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord .
30
They rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31
Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
choking on their own schemes.
32
For simpletons turn away from me - to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
33
But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”