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A Father’s Instruction

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;pay attention and gain understanding.

²For I give you sound teaching;do not abandon my directive.

³When I was a son to my father,tender and the only child of my mother,

⁴he taught me and said,“Let your heart lay hold of my words;keep my commands and you will live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding;do not forget my words or turn from them.

⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you;love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom.And whatever you may acquire,gain understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you;if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will set a garland of grace on your head;she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my words,and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I will guide you in the way of wisdom;I will lead you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; do not let go.Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wickedor walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not travel on it.Turn from it and pass on by.

¹⁶For they cannot sleepunless they do evil;they are deprived of slumberuntil they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickednessand drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words;incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Do not lose sight of them;keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them,and health to the whole body.

²³Guard your heart with all diligence,for from it flow springs of life.

²⁴Put away deception from your mouth;keep your lips from perverse speech.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward;fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Make a level path for your feet,and all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left;turn your feet away from evil.

Avoiding Immorality

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom;incline your ear to my insight,

²that you may maintain discretionand your lips may preserve knowledge.

³Though the lips of the forbidden womandrip honeyand her speechis smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she is bitter as wormwood,sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She does not consider the path of life;she does not know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me,and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your path far from her;do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you concede your vigor to others,and your years to one who is cruel;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth,and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

¹¹At the end of your life you will groanwhen your flesh and your body are spent,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachersor incline my ear to my mentors.

¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruinin the midst of the whole assembly.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,and running water from your own well.

¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets,your streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be yours alone,never to be shared with strangers.

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed,and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always;may you be captivatedby her love forever.

²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,and the LORD examinesall his paths.

²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him;the cords of his sin entangle him.

²³He dies for lack of discipline,led astray by his own great folly.

Trust in the LORD with All Your Heart

¹My son, do not forget my teaching,but let your heart keep my commandments;

²for they will add length to your days,years and peace to your life.

³Never let loving devotionor faithfulness leave you;bind them around your neck,write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Then you will find favor and high regardin the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways acknowledge Him,and He will make your paths straight.

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes;fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸This will bring healing to your bodyand refreshmentto your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your wealthand with the firstfruits of all your crops;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty,and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD,and do not loathe His rebuke;

¹²for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,as does a father the son in whom he delights.

The Blessings of Wisdom

¹³Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,the man who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver,and her gain is better than fine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies;nothing you desire compares with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand;in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷All her ways are pleasant,and all her paths are peaceful.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who embrace her,and those who lay hold of her are blessed.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdomand established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open,and the clouds dripped with dew.

²¹My son, do not lose sight of this:Preserve sound judgment and discernment.

²²They will be life to your souland adornment to your neck.

²³Then you will go on your way in safety,and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid;when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not fear sudden dangeror the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidenceand will keep your foot from the snare.

²⁷Do not withhold good from the deservingwhen it is within your power to act.

²⁸Do not tell your neighbor,“Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

²⁹Do not devise evil against your neighbor,for he trustfully dwells beside you.

³⁰Do not accuse a man without cause,when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a violent manor choose any of his ways;

³²for the LORD detests the perverse,but He is a friend to the upright.

³³The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,but He blesses the home of the righteous.

³⁴He mocks the mockers,but gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor,but fools are held up to shame.