18. But [when these men set a trap for others] they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.
19. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors. [Prov. 15:27; I Tim. 6:10.]
20. Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets;
21. She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22. How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?
23. If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. [Isa. 11:2; Eph. 1:17-20.]
24. Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, [Isa. 65:11, 12; 66:4; Jer. 7:13, 14; Zech. 7:11-13.]
25. And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof,
26. I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic–
27. When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
28. Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me. [Job 27:9; 35:12, 13; Isa. 1:15, 16; Jer. 11:11; Mic. 3:4; James 4:3.]
29. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, [Prov. 8:13.]
30. Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
31. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.
32. For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them. [Isa. 32:6.]
33. But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.