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.

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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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.

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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11 “There are those who curse their fathers
    and do not bless their mothers;(A)
12 those who are pure in their own eyes(B)
    and yet are not cleansed of their filth;(C)

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11 Some people curse their father
    and do not thank their mother.
12 They are pure in their own eyes,
    but they are filthy and unwashed.

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17 “The eye that mocks(A) a father,
    that scorns an aged mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
    will be eaten by the vultures.(B)

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17 The eye that mocks a father
    and despises a mother’s instructions
will be plucked out by ravens of the valley
    and eaten by vultures.

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