The Enticement of Sinners

(A)Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
And (B)do not ignore your mother’s teaching;
For they are a (C)graceful wreath for your head
And (D)necklaces for your neck.

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A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

My child,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
What you learn from them will crown you with grace
    and be a chain of honor around your neck.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:8 Hebrew My son; also in 1:10, 15.

A Father’s Instruction

Listen, my sons, to the (A)instruction of a father,
And (B)pay attention so that you may [a]gain understanding,
For I give you good (C)teaching;
(D)Do not abandon my [b]instruction.
When I was a son to my father,
(E)Tender and (F)the only son in the sight of my mother,
He (G)taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart (H)take hold of my words;
(I)Keep my commandments and live;

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 4:1 Lit know
  2. Proverbs 4:2 Or law

A Father’s Wise Advice

My children,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Pay attention and learn good judgment,
for I am giving you good guidance.
    Don’t turn away from my instructions.
For I, too, was once my father’s son,
    tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.

My father taught me,
“Take my words to heart.
    Follow my commands, and you will live.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew My sons.

Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked

10 The (A)proverbs of Solomon.

(B)A wise son makes a father glad,
But (C)a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

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The Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child[a] brings joy to a father;
    a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:1 Hebrew son; also in 10:1b.

20 A (A)wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man (B)despises his mother.

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20 Sensible children bring joy to their father;
    foolish children despise their mother.

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21 He who (A)fathers a fool does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.

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21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool;
    there is no joy for the father of a rebel.

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25 A (A)foolish son is a grief to his father,
And (B)bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

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25 Foolish children[a] bring grief to their father
    and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:25 Hebrew A foolish son.

26 He (A)who assaults his father and drives his mother away
Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

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26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother
    are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

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20 He who (A)curses his father or his mother,
His (B)lamp will go out in time of darkness.

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20 If you insult your father or mother,
    your light will be snuffed out in total darkness.

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11 There is a [a]kind of person who (A)curses his father
And does not bless his mother.
12 There is a [b]kind who is (B)pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:11 Or generation
  2. Proverbs 30:12 Or generation

11 Some people curse their father
    and do not thank their mother.
12 They are pure in their own eyes,
    but they are filthy and unwashed.

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17 The eye that (A)mocks a father
And [a](B)scorns a mother,
The (C)ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young (D)eagles will eat it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:17 Lit despises to obey

17 The eye that mocks a father
    and despises a mother’s instructions
will be plucked out by ravens of the valley
    and eaten by vultures.

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