Proverbs 4
1 Hear, you children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
2 For I give you a good gift; forsake you not my law.
For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.
3 For I also was a son obedient to [my] father, and loved in the sight of [my] mother:
When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,
4 who spoke and instructed me, [saying], Let our speech be fixed in your heart, keep [our] commandments, forget them not:
he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
5 and do not neglect the speech of my mouth.
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
6 And forsake it not, and it shall cleave to you: love it, and it shall keep you.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.
Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
8 Secure it, and it shall exalt you: honour it, that it may embrace you;
Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
9 that it may give to your head a crown of graces, and may cover you with a crown of delight.
She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
10 Hear, [my] son, and receive my words; and the years of your life shall be increased, that the resources of your life may be many.
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
11 For I teach you the ways of wisdom; and I cause you to go in right paths.
I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths.
12 For when you go, your steps shall not be straitened; and when you run, you shall not be distressed.
When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take hold of my instruction; let it not go, —but keep it for yourself for your life.
Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
14 Go not in the ways of the ungodly, neither covet the ways of transgressors.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.
15 In whatever place they shall pitch their camp, go not there; but turn from them, and pass away.
Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
16 For they can’t sleep, unless they have done evil: their sleep is taken away, and they rest not.
For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
17 For these live upon the bread of ungodliness, and are drunken with wine of transgression.
For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the ways of the righteous shine like light; they go on and shine, until the day be fully come.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 But the ways of the ungodly are dark; they know not how they stumble.
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
20 [My] son, attend to my speech; and apply your ear to my words:
My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 that your fountains may not fail you; keep them in [your] heart.
Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those that find them, and health to all [their] flesh.
For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
23 Keep your heart with the utmost care; for out of these are the issues of life.
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
24 Remove from you a froward mouth, and put far away from you unjust lips.
Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
25 Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids assent [to] just [things].
Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
26 Make straight paths for your feet, and order your ways aright.
Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
27 Turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left, but turn away your foot from an evil way.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
