1 Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,
5 “Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!
6 Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding.”
Free Grace note
Two tables, and the invitation to life costs the guest nothing. Wisdom builds her house, prepares the feast, and sends her servants to call the simple in: come, eat my bread and drink my wine, leave your simple ways and live, verses 5 and 6. Notice who is invited. Not the accomplished, but the simple and the one lacking understanding. The meal is already prepared and paid for; the guest only has to come. This is the pattern of grace running straight through Scripture to the gospel feast Jesus describes, where the invitation goes out to any who will come, Luke 14:16 to 23. A growing believer can wrestle with feeling too ordinary for God's best. Wisdom's table answers that. She does not stock her house with qualified diners; she calls the unqualified and feeds them. Leave your simple ways and live is not a fee charged at the door. It is the new life that begins once you have accepted the seat she freely offers.
7 He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.
8 Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Free Grace note
The fear of Yahweh begins wisdom, and reverence is the soil grace grows in. Verse 10 is the golden thread of the whole book: the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. A maturing believer should hear the tone of this fear correctly. It is not the terror of a slave dreading punishment, for perfect love casts out that kind of fear, 1 John 4:18. It is the reverent awe of a child who knows the greatness of the Father. This kind of fear does not compete with assurance; it deepens it. The wise welcome correction, verse 8, precisely because they trust the One correcting them. So this reverence is not a work you perform to earn standing. It is the humble posture of someone who has already met the Holy One and stands secure in his love, now eager to grow wise from the inside out.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.
13 The foolish woman is loud, Undisciplined, and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways,
16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,
17 “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
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