Mishle 3

Orthodox Jewish Bible

3 Beni (my son), forget not my torah; but let thine lev keep my mitzvot;

² For orekh yamim (length of days), and shnot chayyim, and shalom, shall they add to thee.

³ Let not chesed and emes forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the luach (tablet) of thine lev;

⁴ So shalt thou find chen and seichel tov in the eyes of Elohim and adam.

⁵ Trust in Hashem with all thine lev, and lean not unto thine own binah (understanding).

⁶ In all thy drakhim acknowledge Him, and He shall make yosher thy orkhot (paths).

⁷ Be not chacham in thine own eyes; fear Hashem, and depart from rah.

⁸ It shall be rife’ut (health) to thy navel, and marrow to thy atzmot.

⁹ Honor Hashem with thy substance, and with the reshit (firstfruit) of all thine increase;

¹⁰ So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall burst out with tirosh.

¹¹ Beni (my son), despise not the musar Hashem; neither be weary of His tokhakhah (reproof);

¹² For whom Hashem loveth, He correcteth; even as an av the ben in whom he delighteth.

¹³ Ashrei (happy) is the man that findeth chochmah, and the man that getteth tevunah (understanding).

¹⁴ For the gain of it is better than the gain of kesef, and the increase thereof than fine gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than peninim (pearls); and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

¹⁶ Orekh yamim is in her right hand; and in her left hand osher and kavod.

¹⁷ Her drakhim are drakhim of pleasantness, and all her netivot (trodden paths) are shalom.

¹⁸ She is an Etz Chayyim (Tree of Life) to them that lay hold upon her; and me’usher (blessed) is every one that holdeth her fast.

¹⁹ Hashem by chochmah hath founded Eretz (Earth); by tevunah (understanding) hath He established Shomayim.

²⁰ By His da’as (knowledge) the tehomot (oceanic depths) were divided, and the clouds drop down the tal (dew).

²¹ Beni (my son), let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound judgment and mezimah (discretion);

²² So shall they be chayyim unto thy nefesh, and chen to thy neck.

²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy derech safely, and thy regel shall not stumble.

²⁴ When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; when thou liest down, thy sheynah (sleep) shall be sweet.

²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden pachad (terror), neither of the desolation of the resha’im (wicked ones), when it cometh.

²⁶ For Hashem shall be thy confidence, and shall be shomer over thy regel from the snare.

²⁷ Withhold not tov from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine yad to do it.

²⁸ Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and makhar (tomorrow) I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

²⁹ Devise not ra’ah against thy re’a, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

³⁰ Strive not with adam without cause, if he have done thee no ra’ah.

³¹ Envy thou not the ish chamas, and choose none of his drakhim.

³² For the perverse person is to’avat (detestable) to Hashem; but His sod (secret, intimate counsel) is with the yesharim (upright ones).

³³ The curse of Hashem is in the bais of the rasha; but He puts a bracha on the dwelling of the tzaddikim.

³⁴ Surely He scorneth the scorners; but He giveth chen (grace, favor) unto the anayim (lowly, humble ones).

³⁵ The chachamim shall inherit kavod, but shame shall be the promotion of kesilim (fools).