Add parallel Print Page Options

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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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

The Enticement of Sinners

(A)Hear, my son, your father’s discipline
And (B)do not abandon your mother’s [a]instruction;
For they are a (C)garland of grace for your head
And [b](D)ornaments about your neck.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:8 Or law
  2. Proverbs 1:9 Lit necklaces

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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew My sons.

A Father’s Wise Instruction

Hear, O sons, the (A)discipline of a father,
And (B)pay attention that you may know understanding,
For I give you [a]sound (C)learning;
(D)Do not forsake my [b]instruction.
When I was a son to my father,
(E)Tender and (F)the only son before my mother,
Then he (G)instructed me and said to me,
“Let your heart (H)hold fast my words;
(I)Keep my commandments and live;

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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

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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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

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

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

Read full chapter

29 He who (A)troubles his own house will (B)inherit wind,
And (C)the ignorant fool will be a slave to the wise of heart.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 17:6 Hebrew fathers.

[a](A)Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the (B)beauty of sons is their fathers.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:6 Lit Sons’ sons

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

Read full chapter

21 He who (A)begets a fool does so to his grief,
And the father of a wicked fool is not glad.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 17:25 Hebrew A foolish son.

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

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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

13 A (A)foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the (B)contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

26 He (A)who assaults his father and causes his mother to flee
Is a son who brings shame and humiliation.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

20 He who (A)curses his father or his mother,
His (B)lamp will go out in the [a]midst of darkness.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:20 Lit pupil (of the eye)