Proverbs 1:8-9
Revised Standard Version
Warnings against Evil Companions
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and reject not your mother’s teaching;
9 for they are a fair garland for your head,
and pendants for your neck.
Proverbs 3:1-2
Revised Standard Version
Admonition to Trust and Honor God
3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
2 for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare will they give you.
Proverbs 4:1-13
Revised Standard Version
Fatherly Advice
4 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain[a] insight;
2 for I give you good precepts:
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he taught me, and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live;
5 do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Get wisdom; get insight.[b]
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8 Prize her highly,[c] and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head a fair garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
Admonition to Keep to the Right Path
10 Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered;
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Keep hold of instruction, do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:1 Heb know
- Proverbs 4:5 Reversing the order of the lines
- Proverbs 4:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Proverbs 4:20-22
Revised Standard Version
20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to him who finds them,
and healing to all his flesh.
Proverbs 5:1-2
Revised Standard Version
Warning against Impurity and Infidelity
5 My son, be attentive to my wisdom,
incline your ear to my understanding;
2 that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
Proverbs 6:20-23
Revised Standard Version
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk, they[a] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[b] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[c] will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
- Proverbs 6:22 Heb it
Proverbs 7:1-3
Revised Standard Version
The False Attractions of Adultery
7 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live,
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 10:17
Revised Standard Version
17 He who heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof goes astray.
Proverbs 19:16
Revised Standard Version
16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his life;
he who despises the word[a] will die.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 19:16 Cn Compare 13.13: Heb his ways
Proverbs 23:22
Revised Standard Version
22 Hearken to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 28:4
Revised Standard Version
4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,
but those who keep the law strive against them.
Proverbs 28:7
Revised Standard Version
7 He who keeps the law is a wise son,
but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
Proverbs 29:18
Revised Standard Version
18 Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.