Özdeyişler 1

¹İsrail'de krallık yapmış olan Davut oğlu Süleyman'ın özdeyişleri:

²Bilgeliği ve terbiyeyi öğrenmek, anlayış dolu sözleri kavramak,

³Sözlerin inceliklerini kabul etmek, gerçek doğruluğu kavramak ve adaleti doğru kılmak,

⁴Saf insanlara kurnazlık, genç çocuğa ise bilgi ve sağduyu kazandırmak içindir.

⁵Bilge kişi bunları dinleyip daha bilge olsun, anlayışlı olan da kılavuzluk yeteneği edinsin;

⁶Özdeyişleri, kapalı sözleri, bilgelerin deyişlerini ve bilmecelerini kavrasın.

⁷Bilgeliğin başlangıcı Rab korkusudur, onu uygulayan herkes iyi bir anlayışa sahip olur; Tanrı'ya bağlılık bilginin başlangıcıdır, ancak tanrısızlar bilgeliği ve terbiyeyi hor görürler.

⁸Oğlum, babanın terbiyesine kulak ver, annenin yasalarını reddetme.

⁹Çünkü bunlar başına lütuf tacı, boynuna ise altın gerdanlık olacaktır.

¹⁰Oğlum, tanrısız adamlar seni saptırmaya çalışırsa onlara boyun eğme.

¹¹Eğer sana, "Bizimle gel, kana ortak olalım, doğru insanı haksız yere toprağa gizleyelim;

¹²Onları ölüler diyarı gibi diri diri yutalım, anılarını yeryüzünden tamamen kaldıralım;

¹³Değerli her türlü serveti ele geçirelim, evlerimizi ganimetlerle dolduralım;

¹⁴Sen de aramıza katıl, hepimizin ortak bir kesesi, tek bir torbası olsun" derlerse;

¹⁵Oğlum, onlarla aynı yola gitme, ayağını onların patikalarından uzak tut.

¹⁶Çünkü onların ayakları kötülüğe koşar, kan dökmek için acele ederler.

¹⁷Çünkü ağların kanatlıların gözü önünde serilmesi boşuna değildir.

¹⁸Oysa cinayete ortak olan bu kişilerin kendileri kendilerine kötülük biriktirirler, yasa tanımaz adamların yıkımı kötüdür.

¹⁹Yasa dışı işleri yapan herkesin yolları böyledir; bu tanrısızlık, ona sahip olanların kendi canını ellerinden alır.

²⁰Bilgelik dışarıda övgüyle yüceltilir, meydanlarda cesurca sesini yükseltir;

²¹Surların tepesinde ilan edilir, hükümdarların kapılarında bekler, kentin kapılarında cesaretle şöyle der:

²²"Saflar doğruluğa sarıldıkları sürece utanmayacaklar; ancak küstahlığı arzulayan akılsızlar, tanrısızlar haline gelerek bilgiden nefret ettiler

²³Ve azarlamalara karşı suçlu oldular; işte, size soluğumun sözünü dökeceğim, kendi sözümü size öğreteceğim.

²⁴Mademki çağırdım ve dinlemediniz, sözler uzattım da aldırış etmediniz;

²⁵Bütün öğütlerimi geçersiz kıldınız, azarlamalarıma aldırış etmek istemediniz;

²⁶Bu yüzden ben de yıkımınıza güleceğim, üzerinize felaket çöktüğünde sevineceğim.

²⁷Üzerinize ansızın kargaşa çöktüğünde, yıkımınız bir kasırga gibi geldiğinde, sıkıntı ve kuşatma sizi sardığında ya da mahvınız üzerinize ulaştığında.

²⁸O zaman beni çağıracaksınız, ama ben yanıt vermeyeceğim; kötüler beni arayacak, ama bulamayacaklar.

²⁹Çünkü bilgiden nefret ettiler, Rab'bin sözünü seçmediler.

³⁰Öğütlerime aldırış etmek istemediler, azarlamalarımla alay ettiler.

³¹Bu yüzden kendi yollarının meyvesini yiyecekler, kendi tanrısızlıklarına doyacaklar.

³²Çünkü saflara haksızlık ettikleri için öldürülecekler, sorgulama ise tanrısızları mahvedecektir.

³³Ama beni dinleyen umut üzerine yerleşecek, her türlü kötülükten korkusuzca, huzur içinde rahat edecektir."

¹ΠΑΡΟΙΜΙΑΙ Σολομῶντος υἱοῦ Δαυίδ, ὃς ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ,

²γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν νοῆσαί τε λόγους φρονήσεως

³δέξασθαί τε στροφὰς λόγων νοῆσαί τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ καὶ κρίμα κατευθύνειν,

⁴ἵνα δῷ ἀκάκοις πανουργίαν, παιδὶ δὲ νέῳ αἴσθησίν τε καὶ ἔννοιαν·

⁵τῶνδε γὰρ ἀκούσας σοφὸς σοφώτερος ἔσται, ὁ δὲ νοήμων κυβέρνησιν κτήσεται.

⁶νοήσει τε παραβολὴν καὶ σκοτεινὸν λόγον ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνίγματα.

⁷᾿Αρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου, σύνεσις δὲ ἀγαθὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ποιοῦσι αὐτήν· εὐσέβεια δὲ εἰς Θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως, σοφίαν δὲ καὶ παιδείαν ἀσεβεῖς ἐξουθενήσουσιν.

⁸ἄκουε, υἱέ, παιδείαν πατρός σου καὶ μὴ ἀπώσῃ θεσμοὺς μητρός σου·

⁹στέφανον γὰρ χαρίτων δέξῃ σῇ κορυφῇ καὶ κλοιὸν χρύσεον περὶ σῷ τραχήλῳ.

¹⁰υἱέ, μή σε πλανήσωσιν ἄνδρες ἀσεβεῖς, μηδὲ βουληθῇς,

¹¹ἐὰν παρακαλέσωσί σε λέγοντες· ἐλθὲ μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν, κοινώνησον αἵματος, κρύψωμεν δὲ εἰς γῆν ἄνδρα δίκαιον ἀδίκως,

¹²καταπίωμεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ᾅδης ζῶντα καὶ ἄρωμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν μνήμην ἐκ γῆς·

¹³τὴν κτῆσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν πολυτελῆ καταλαβώμεθα, πλήσωμεν δὲ οἴκους ἡμετέρους σκύλων·

¹⁴τὸν δὲ σὸν κλῆρον βάλε ἐν ἡμῖν, κοινὸν δὲ βαλάντιον κτησώμεθα πάντες, καὶ μαρσίππιον ἓν γενηθήτω ἡμῖν.

¹⁵μὴ πορευθῆς ἐν ὁδῷ μετ᾿ αὐτῶν, ἔκλινον δὲ τὸν πόδα σου ἐκ τῶν τρίβων αὐτῶν·

¹⁶οἱ γὰρ πόδες αὐτῶν εἰς κακίαν τρέχουσι καὶ ταχινοὶ τοῦ ἐκχέαι αἷμα·

¹⁷οὐ γὰρ ἀδίκως ἐκτείνεται δίκτυα πτερωτοῖς.

¹⁸αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἱ φόνου μετέχοντες θησαυρίζουσιν ἑαυτοῖς κακά, ἡ δὲ καταστροφὴ ἀνδρῶν παρανόμων κακή.

¹⁹αὗται αἱ ὁδοί εἰσι πάντων τῶν συντελούντων τὰ ἄνομα· τῇ γὰρ ἀσεβείᾳ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ψυχὴν ἀφαιροῦνται.

²⁰Σοφία ἐν ἐξόδοις ὑμνεῖται, ἐν δὲ πλατείαις παρρησίαν ἄγει·

²¹ἐπ᾿ ἄκρων τειχέων κηρύσσεται, ἐπὶ δὲ πύλαις δυναστῶν παρεδρεύει, ἐπὶ δὲ πύλαις πόλεως θαρροῦσα λέγει·

²²ὅσον ἂν χρόνον ἄκακοι ἔχωνται τῆς δικαιοσύνης, οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται· οἱ δὲ ἄφρονες, τῆς ὕβρεως ὄντες ἐπιθυμηταί, ἀσεβεῖς γενόμενοι ἐμίσησαν αἴσθησιν

²³καὶ ὑπεύθυνοι ἐγένοντο ἐλέγχοις, ἰδοὺ προήσομαι ὑμῖν ἐμῆς πνοῆς ρῆσιν, διδάξω δὲ ὑμᾶς τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον.

²⁴ἐπειδὴ ἐκάλουν καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσατε καὶ ἐξέτεινα λόγους καὶ οὐ προσείχετε,

²⁵ἀλλὰ ἀκύρους ἐποιεῖτε ἐμᾶς βουλάς, τοῖς δὲ ἐμοῖς ἐλέγχοις οὐ προσείχετε,

²⁶τοιγαροῦν κἀγὼ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἀπωλείᾳ ἐπιγελάσομαι, καταχαροῦμαι δὲ ἡνίκα ἔρχηται ὑμῖν ὄλεθρος,

²⁷καὶ ὡς ἂν ἀφίκηται ὑμῖν ἄφνω θόρυβος, ἡ δὲ καταστροφὴ ὁμοίως καταιγίδι παρῇ, καὶ ὅταν ἔρχηται ὑμῖν θλῖψις καὶ πολιορκία ἢ ὅταν ἔρχηται ὑμῖν ὄλεθρος.

²⁸ἔσται γὰρ ὅταν ἐπικαλέσησθέ με, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν· ζητήσουσί με κακοί, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσουσιν·

²⁹ἐμίσησαν γὰρ σοφίαν, τὸν δὲ λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου οὐ προείλαντο,

³⁰οὐδὲ ἤθελον ἐμαῖς προσέχειν βουλαῖς, ἐμυκτήριζον δὲ ἐμοὺς ἐλέγχους.

³¹τοιγαροῦν ἔδονται τῆς ἑαυτῶν ὁδοῦ τοὺς καρποὺς καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀσεβείας πλησθήσονται·

³²ἀνθ᾿ ὧν γὰρ ἠδίκουν νηπίους, φονευθήσονται, καὶ ἐξετασμὸς ἀσεβεῖς ὀλεῖ.

³³ὁ δὲ ἐμοῦ ἀκούων κατασκηνώσει ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι καὶ ἡσυχάσει ἀφόβως ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ.

¹The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;

²to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;

³to receive also hard sayings, and to understand true justice, and [how] to direct judgment;

⁴that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.

⁵For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and the man of understanding will gain direction;

⁶and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and [there is] good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, [my] son, the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother.

⁹For thou shalt receive for thine head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round thy neck.

¹⁰[My] son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou [to them].

¹¹If they should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:

¹²and let us swallow him alive, as Hades [would], and remove the memorial of him from the earth:

¹³let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:

¹⁴but do thou cast in thy lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:

¹⁵go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths:

¹⁶[see Appendix]

¹⁷for nets are not without cause spread for birds.

¹⁸For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.

¹⁹These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.

²⁰Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.

²¹And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, and sits by the gates of princes; and at the gates of the city boldly says,

²²So long as the simple cleave to justice, they shall not be ashamed: but the foolish being lovers of haughtiness, having become ungodly have hated knowledge, and are become subject to reproofs.

²³Behold, I will bring forth to you the utterance of my breath, and I will instruct you in my speech.

²⁴Since I called, and ye did not hearken; and I spoke at length, and ye gave no heed;

²⁵but ye set at nought my counsels, and disregarded my reproofs;

²⁶therefore I also will laugh at your destruction; and I will rejoice against [you] when ruin comes upon you:

²⁷yea when dismay suddenly comes upon you, and [your] overthrow shall arrive like a tempest; and when tribulation and distress shall come upon you, or when ruin shall come upon you.

²⁸For it shall be that when ye call upon me, I will not hearken to you: wicked men shall seek me, but shall not find [me].

²⁹For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the word of the Lord:

³⁰neither would they attend to my counsels, but derided my reproofs.

³¹Therefore shall they eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own ungodliness.

³²For because they wronged the simple, they shall be slain; and an inquisition shall ruin the ungodly.

³³But he that hearkens to me shall dwell in confidence, and shall rest securely from all evil.