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)

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A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

My child,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
What you learn from them will crown you with grace
    and be a chain of honor around your neck.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:8 Hebrew My son; also in 1:10, 15.

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)

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A Father’s Wise Advice

My children,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Pay attention and learn good judgment,
for I am giving you good guidance.
    Don’t turn away from my instructions.
For I, too, was once my father’s son,
    tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.

My father taught me,
“Take my words to heart.
    Follow my commands, and you will live.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew My sons.

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.

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The Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child[a] brings joy to a father;
    a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:1 Hebrew son; also in 10:1b.

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

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29 Those who bring trouble on their families inherit the wind.
    The fool will be a servant to the wise.

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

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20 Sensible children bring joy to their father;
    foolish children despise their mother.

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

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A wise servant will rule over the master’s disgraceful son
    and will share the inheritance of the master’s children.

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

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Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged;
    parents[a] are the pride of their children.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:6 Hebrew fathers.

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

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21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool;
    there is no joy for the father of a rebel.

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

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25 Foolish children[a] bring grief to their father
    and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:25 Hebrew A foolish son.

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

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13 A foolish child[a] is a calamity to a father;
    a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:13 Hebrew son; also in 19:27.

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

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26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother
    are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

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

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20 If you insult your father or mother,
    your light will be snuffed out in total darkness.

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