Proverbs 4:1-27
4 Listen, my sons, to the discipline of a father;+Pay attention in order to gain understanding,
2 For I will give you good instruction;Do not forsake my teaching.*+
3 I was a true son to my father+And the one especially loved by my mother.+
4 He taught me and said: “May your heart hold fast to my words.+
Keep my commandments and continue living.+
5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding.+
Do not forget, and do not turn aside from what I say.
6 Do not forsake it, and it will protect you.
Love it, and it will safeguard you.
7 Wisdom is the most important* thing,+ so acquire wisdom,And with all you acquire, acquire understanding.+
8 Highly esteem it, and it will exalt you.+
It will honor you because you embrace it.+
9 It will place an attractive wreath on your head;It will adorn you with a crown of beauty.”
10 Listen, my son, and accept my sayings,And the years of your life will be many.+
11 I will instruct you in the way of wisdom;+I will lead you in the tracks of uprightness.+
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;And if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to discipline; do not let it go.+
Safeguard it, for it means your life.+
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,And do not walk in the way of evil men.+
15 Shun it, do not take it;+Turn away from it, and pass it by.+
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do what is bad.
They are robbed of sleep unless they cause someone’s downfall.
17 They feed themselves with the bread of wickedness,And they drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning lightThat grows brighter and brighter until full daylight.+
19 The way of the wicked is like the darkness;They do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to my words;Listen carefully* to my sayings.
21 Do not lose sight of them;Keep them deep within your heart,+
22 For they are life to those who find them+And health to their whole body.*
23 Above all the things that you guard, safeguard your heart,+For out of it are the sources of life.
24 Put crooked speech away from you,+And keep devious talk far away from you.
25 Your eyes should look straight ahead,Yes, fix your gaze* straight ahead of you.+
26 Smooth out* the course of your feet,+And all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not incline to the right or the left.+
Turn your feet away from what is bad.
Footnotes
^ Or “law.”
^ Or “the prime.”
^ Lit., “Incline your ear.”
^ Lit., “to all their flesh.”
^ Or “beaming eyes.”
^ Or possibly, “Carefully consider.”