Proverbs 4-6
Proverbs 4
1 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; 365N 162.1
2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. 365N 162.2
3 When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, 365N 162.3
4 He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live. 365N 162.4
5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. 365N 162.5
6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. 365N 162.6
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. 365N 162.7
8 Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. 365N 162.8
9 She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.” 365N 162.9
10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. 365N 162.10
11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. 365N 162.11
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. 365N 162.12
13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. 365N 162.13
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. 365N 162.14
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. 365N 162.15
16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is [a]Lit. robbed taken away unless they make someone fall. 365N 162.16
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. 365N 162.17
18 But the path of the just is like the shining [b]Lit. light sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. 365N 162.18
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. 365N 162.19
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 365N 162.20
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 365N 162.21
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. 365N 162.22
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. 365N 162.23
24 Put away from you a [c]devious deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. 365N 162.24
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. 365N 162.25
26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. 365N 162.26
27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. 365N 162.27
Proverbs 5
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; [a]Lit. Bow Lend your ear to my understanding, 365N 162.28
2 That you may [b]appreciate good judgment preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. 365N 162.29
3 For the lips of [c]Lit. a strange an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 365N 162.30
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 365N 162.31
5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of [d]Or Sheol hell. 365N 162.32
6 Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. 365N 162.33
7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. 365N 162.34
8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, 365N 162.35
9 Lest you give your [e]vigor honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; 365N 162.36
10 Lest aliens be filled with your [f]Lit. strength wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; 365N 162.37
11 And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, 365N 162.38
12 And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! 365N 162.39
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! 365N 162.40
14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” 365N 162.41
15 Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. 365N 162.42
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, [g]Channels Streams of water in the streets? 365N 162.43
17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. 365N 162.44
18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. 365N 162.45
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be [h]Lit. intoxicated enraptured with her love. 365N 162.46
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? 365N 162.47
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord , And He [i]observes, lit. weighs ponders all his paths. 365N 162.48
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. 365N 162.49
23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. 365N 162.50
Proverbs 6
1 My son, if you become [a]guaranty or collateral surety for your friend, If you have [b]Lit. struck shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 365N 162.51
2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth. 365N 162.52
3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend. 365N 162.53
4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids. 365N 162.54
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the [c]One who catches birds in a trap or snare fowler. 365N 162.55
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 365N 162.56
7 Which, having no [d]Lit. leader captain, Overseer or ruler, 365N 162.57
8 Provides her [e]Lit. bread supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. 365N 162.58
9 How long will you [f]Lit. lie down slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 365N 162.59
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep— 365N 162.60
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man. 365N 162.61
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth; 365N 162.62
13 He winks with his eyes, He [g]gives signals, lit. scrapes shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers; 365N 162.63
14 Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord. 365N 162.64
15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. 365N 162.65
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to [h]Lit. His soul Him: 365N 162.66
17 A [i]Lit. Haughty eyes proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 365N 162.67
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 365N 162.68
19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. 365N 162.69
20 My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother. 365N 162.70
21 Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck. 365N 162.71
22 When you roam, [j]Lit. it they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you. 365N 162.72
23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, 365N 162.73
24 To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress. 365N 162.74
25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. 365N 162.75
26 For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And [k]Wife of another, lit. a man’s wife an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. 365N 162.76
27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? 365N 162.77
28 Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? 365N 162.78
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. 365N 162.79
30 People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. 365N 162.80
31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house. 365N 162.81
32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul. 365N 162.82
33 Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away. 365N 162.83
34 For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 365N 162.84
35 He will [l]Lit. lift up the face of any accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts. 365N 162.85