Add parallel Print Page Options

Solomon’s Speeches About Wisdom

First Address to a Son:
Avoid the Company of Sinners

Listen, my son, to your father’s discipline,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching,
because they are a garland of grace for your head.
They are jewelry for your neck.

Read full chapter

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

Listen, my son,(A) to your father’s(B) instruction
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(C)
They are a garland to grace your head
    and a chain to adorn your neck.(D)

Read full chapter

An Address to Sons:
Your Parents Teach You Wisdom

Listen, you sons, to a father’s discipline.
Pay attention so that you will gain discernment,
because I have given you good instruction.
Do not abandon my teaching.
When I was a son living with my father,
a tender and only child with my mother,
he used to instruct me and say to me,
“Cling to my words with all your heart.
Obey my commands so that you may live.

Read full chapter

Get Wisdom at Any Cost

Listen, my sons,(A) to a father’s instruction;(B)
    pay attention and gain understanding.(C)
I give you sound learning,
    so do not forsake my teaching.
For I too was a son to my father,
    still tender, and cherished by my mother.
Then he taught me, and he said to me,
    “Take hold(D) of my words with all your heart;
    keep my commands, and you will live.(E)

Read full chapter

The Collected Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

Introduction to Wisdom and Righteousness

A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

Read full chapter

Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs(A) of Solomon:(B)

A wise son brings joy to his father,(C)
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

Read full chapter

29 Whoever troubles his household will inherit the wind,
and a stubborn fool will be a slave to a person with a wise heart.

Read full chapter

29 Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind,
    and the fool will be servant to the wise.(A)

Read full chapter

Advice for a Wise Son

20 A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish person despises his mother.

Read full chapter

20 A wise son brings joy to his father,(A)
    but a foolish man despises his mother.

Read full chapter

A wise slave will rule over a shameful son.
He will share the inheritance with the brothers.

Read full chapter

A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son
    and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

Read full chapter

Grandchildren are a crown for the elderly,
and parents are a source of pride for their children.

Read full chapter

Children’s children(A) are a crown to the aged,
    and parents are the pride of their children.

Read full chapter

21 The man who fathers a fool has grief,
and the father of an arrogant fool will have no joy.

Read full chapter

21 To have a fool for a child brings grief;
    there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.(A)

Read full chapter

Avoiding Fools and Foolishness

25 A foolish son is an aggravation to his father
and bitterness to the woman who bore him.

Read full chapter

25 A foolish son brings grief to his father
    and bitterness to the mother who bore him.(A)

Read full chapter

Dealing With Fools

13 A foolish son is a disaster to his father,
and a nagging wife is like constantly dripping water.

Read full chapter

13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,(A)
    and a quarrelsome wife is like
    the constant dripping of a leaky roof.(B)

Read full chapter

26 A son who attacks his father and chases away his mother
brings shame and disgrace.

Read full chapter

26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother(A)
    is a child who brings shame and disgrace.

Read full chapter

20 The person who curses his father and his mother—
his lamp will be snuffed out in total darkness.

Read full chapter

20 If someone curses their father or mother,(A)
    their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.(B)

Read full chapter

Dedicate[a] a child to the way he should go,
and even when he becomes old, he will not turn away from it.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:6 Or consecrate. The Hebrew word used here is not one of the usual words for teaching or training, but it is the same word used for dedicating a temple. It adds the connotation of entrusting the child to the Lord, as Hannah did.

Start(A) children off on the way they should go,(B)
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.(C)

Read full chapter