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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.

The Minor Theme

My son, listen to your father’s instruction,
    and do not let go of your mother’s teaching.
They will be a graceful wreath for your head
    and a chain for your neck.

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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.

Diligently Pursue Wisdom

Listen, children,[a] to your father’s instruction,
and pay attention in order to gain understanding.
I give you sound teaching,
so do not abandon my instruction.[b]
When I was a son to my father,
    not yet strong[c] and an only son to my mother,
he taught me and told me,
    “Let your heart fully embrace what I have to say;[d]
        keep my commandments and live!

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 4:1 Lit. sons
  2. Proverbs 4:2 Or law
  3. Proverbs 4:3 Lit. delicate
  4. Proverbs 4:4 Lit. embrace my words

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.

Solomon’s Sayings

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son grieves his mother.

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

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20 A wise son makes a father glad,
    but a foolish man despises his mother.

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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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21 The man who fathers a fool does so to his sorrow—
    the father of a fool has no joy.

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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.

25 A foolish son brings grief to his father
    and bitterness to his mother.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:25 Lit. to the one who bore him

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

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26 Whoever mistreats his father
    and alienates his mother
        is a son who brings both shame and disrespect.

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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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20 Whoever curses his father or mother,
    his lamp will be extinguished in the deepest darkness.

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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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11 Some people[a] curse their fathers
    and won’t bless their mothers.
12 Some people[b] view themselves as pure,
    but haven’t been cleansed from their own filth.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:11 Lit. A generation
  2. Proverbs 30:12 Lit. A generation

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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17 The eye that mocks a father
    and looks with a disobedient attitude at[a] a mother—
the valley ravens will pluck it out;
    and vultures will eat it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:17 Lit. and despises obedience to