Proverbs 4
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Parental Advice
4 Listen, children, to 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, and my mother’s favorite,
4 he taught me, and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away
from the words of my mouth.
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 else you get, get insight.
8 Prize her highly, 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 child, 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.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.
20 My child, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Keep straight the path of your feet,
and all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:1 Heb know
Proverbs 4
Good News Translation
The Benefits of Wisdom
4 My children, listen to what your father teaches you. Pay attention, and you will have understanding. 2 What I am teaching you is good, so remember it all. 3 When I was only a little boy, my parents' only son, 4 my father would teach me. He would say, “Remember what I say and never forget it. Do as I tell you, and you will live. 5 Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say. 6 Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe. 7 Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight. 8 Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Embrace her,[a] and she will bring you honor. 9 She will be your crowning glory.”
10 Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life. 11 I have taught you wisdom and the right way to live. 12 Nothing will stand in your way if you walk wisely, and you will not stumble when you run. 13 Always remember what you have learned. Your education is your life—guard it well. 14 Do not go where evil people go. Do not follow the example of the wicked. 15 Don't do it! Keep away from evil! Refuse it and go on your way. 16 Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone. 17 Wickedness and violence are like food and drink to them.
18 The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come. 19 The road of the wicked, however, is dark as night. They fall, but cannot see what they have stumbled over.
20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen to my words. 21 Never let them get away from you. Remember them and keep them in your heart. 22 They will give life and health to anyone who understands them. 23 Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. 24 Never say anything that isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words. 25 Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame. 26 (A)Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right. 27 Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:8 Embrace her; or Prize her highly.
Proverbs 4
Authorized (King James) Version
4 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father,
and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine,
forsake ye not my law.
3 For I was my father’s son,
tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me,
Let thine heart retain my words:
keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding:
forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:
love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:
and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:
she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace:
a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;
and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;
I have led thee in right paths.
12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;
and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go:
keep her; for she is thy life.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked,
and go not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it,
turn from it, and pass away.
16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief;
and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light,
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness:
they know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words;
incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes;
keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them,
and health to all their flesh.
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth,
and perverse lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
remove thy foot from evil.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 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.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.