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.

Read full chapter

Avoid the Path of the Violent

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,(A)
for they will be a garland(B) of favor on your head
and pendants[a] around your neck.(C)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:9 Lit chains

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

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;

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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

A Father’s Example

Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline,(A)
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,
for I am giving you good instruction.(B)
Don’t abandon my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
tender and precious to my mother,
he taught me and said,
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.(C)

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

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.

Read full chapter

A Collection of Solomon’s Proverbs

10 Solomon’s proverbs:(A)

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

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 One who (A)troubles his own house will (B)inherit wind,
And (C)the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

Read full chapter

29 The one who brings ruin on his household(A)
will inherit the wind,(B)
and a fool will be a slave
to someone whose heart is wise.

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

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully,
And will share in the inheritance among brothers.

Read full chapter

A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son
and share an inheritance among 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

(A)Grandchildren are the crown of the old,
And the (B)glory of sons is their fathers.

Read full chapter

Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly,
and the pride of children is their fathers.

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

Read full chapter

21 A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow;
the father of a fool has no joy.(A)

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

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter