1Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither: [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine [which] I have mingled.
6Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
7He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked [man getteth] himself a blot.
8Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
9Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning.
10The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.
11For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
12If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but [if] thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear [it].
13A foolish woman [is] clamorous: [she is] simple, and knoweth nothing.
14For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
15To call passengers who go right on their ways:
16Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither: and [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
17Stolen waters are sweet, and bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant.
18But he knoweth not that the dead [are] there; [and that] her guests [are] in the depths of hell.
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 9
Christ and sin are rivals for the soul of man, and here we are told how they both make their court to it, to have the innermost and uppermost place in it. The design of this representation is to set before us life and death, good and evil; and there needs no more than a fair stating of the case to determine us which…
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