Proverbs 4
1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Hear, ye children, the correction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.
For good information do I give you: my teaching must ye not forsake.
3 When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,
For I was a son unto my father, a tender and an only child before my mother.
4 he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
And he instructed me, and said unto me, Let thy heart grasp firmly my words: observe my commandments and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding: forget not, and depart not from the sayings of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.
Forsake her not, and she will watch over thee: love her, and she will keep thee.
7 Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
The beginning of wisdom is, Acquire wisdom: and with all thy acquisition acquire understanding.
8 Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
Hold her in high esteem, and she will exalt thee: she will bring thee to honor, when thou embracest her.
9 She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
She will give to thy head a wreath of grace: a crown of ornament will she deliver to thee.
10 Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
Hear, O my son, and accept my sayings: and they will increase unto thee the years of life.
11 I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths.
In the way of wisdom have I instructed thee: I have led thee in the tracks of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.
When thou walkest, thy step shall not be narrowed; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
Lay fast hold of correction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.
Enter not into the path of the wicked, and step not on the way of the bad.
15 Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
Avoid it, pass not through by it, turn off from it, and pass away.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
For they sleep not, except they have done evil, and their sleep is robbed away, unless they cause some to stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
For they eat the bread of wickedness; and the wine of violence do they drink.
18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
But the path of the righteous is as the early morning light, that shineth more and more brightly until the height of noonday.
19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
The way of the wicked is like darkness: they know not against what they stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
My son, attend to my words, unto my sayings incline thy ear.
21 Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.
Let them not slip away from thy eyes: guard them in the midst of thy heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
For they are life unto every one of those that find them, and to all his body a healing.
23 Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
Above all that is to be guarded, keep thy heart, for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
Remove from thee frowardness of mouth; and perverseness of lips put away far from thee.
25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
Let thy eyes look right forward, and let thy eyelids see straight out before thee.
26 Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
Balance well the track of thy foot, and let all thy ways be firmly right.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
