Proverbs 4
4
Cherish Wisdom
1Sons,
listen to ⌞your⌟ father’s discipline,
and pay attention in order to gain understanding.
2After all, I have taught you well.
Do not abandon my teachings.
3When I was a boy ⌞learning⌟ from my father,
when I was a tender and only child of my mother,
4they used to teach me and say to me,
“Cling to my words wholeheartedly.
Obey my commands so that you may live.
5Acquire wisdom.
Acquire understanding.
Do not forget.
Do not turn away from the words that I have spoken.
6Do not abandon wisdom, and it will watch over you.
Love wisdom, and it will protect you.
7The beginning of wisdom is to acquire wisdom.
Acquire understanding with all that you have.
8Cherish wisdom.
It will raise you up.
It will bring you honor when you embrace it.
9It will give you a graceful garland for your head.
It will hand you a beautiful crown.”
Stay on the Path of Wisdom
10My son,
listen and accept my words,
and they will multiply the years of your life.
11I have taught you the way of wisdom.
I have guided you along decent paths.
12When you walk, your stride will not be hampered.
Even if you run, you will not stumble.
13Cling to discipline.
Do not relax your grip on it.
Keep it because it is your life.
14Do not stray onto the path of wicked people.
Do not walk in the way of evil people.
15Avoid it.
Do not walk near it.
Turn away from it,
and keep on walking.
16Wicked people cannot sleep
unless they do wrong,
and they are robbed of their sleep
unless they make someone stumble.
17They eat food obtained through wrongdoing
and drink wine obtained through violence.
18But the path of righteous people is like the light of dawn
that becomes brighter and brighter until it reaches midday.
19The way of wicked people is like deep darkness.
They do not know what makes them stumble.
Stay Focused on Wisdom
20My son,
pay attention to my words.
Open your ears to what I say.
21Do not lose sight of these things.
Keep them deep within your heart
22because they are life to those who find them
and they heal the whole body.
23Guard your heart more than anything else,
because the source of your life flows from it.
24Remove dishonesty from your mouth.
Put deceptive speech far away from your lips.
25Let your eyes look straight ahead
and your sight be focused in front of you.
26Carefully walk a straight path,
and all your ways will be secure.
27Do not lean to the right or to the left.
Walk away from evil.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 4
4
Love wisdom
1Hear, children, fatherly instruction;
pay attention to gain understanding.
2I’ll teach you well.
Don’t abandon my instruction.
3When I was a son to my father,
tender and my mother’s favorite,
4he taught me and said to me:
“Let your heart hold on to my words:
Keep my commands and live.
5Get wisdom; get understanding.
Don’t forget and don’t turn away from my words.
6Don’t abandon her, and she will guard you.
Love her, and she will protect you.
7The beginning of wisdom:
Get wisdom!
Get understanding before anything else.
8Highly esteem her, and she will exalt you.
She will honor you if you embrace her.
9She will place a graceful wreath on your head;
she will give you a glorious crown.”
Stay on the path of wisdom
10Listen, my son, and take in my speech,
then the years of your life will be many.
11I teach you the path of wisdom.
I lead you in straight courses.
12When you walk, you won’t be hindered;
when you run, you won’t stumble.
13Hold on to instruction; don’t slack off;
protect it, for it is your life.
14Don’t go on the way of the wicked;
don’t walk on the path of evil people.
15Avoid it! Don’t turn onto it;
stay off of it and keep going!
16They don’t sleep unless they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
17They eat the bread of evil,
and they drink the wine of violence.
18The way of the righteous is like morning light
that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day.
19The path of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they don’t know where they will stumble.
Be careful about what you say
20My son, pay attention to my words.
Bend your ear to my speech.
21Don’t let them slip from your sight.
Guard them in your mind.
22They are life to those who find them,
and healing for their entire body.
23More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.
24Have nothing to do with a corrupt mouth;
keep devious lips far from you.
25Focus your eyes straight ahead;
keep your gaze on what is in front of you.
26Watch your feet on the way,
and all your paths will be secure.
27Don’t deviate a bit to the right or the left;
turn your feet away from evil.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.