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My son, listen to your father’s instruction,
    and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:
for they will be a garland to grace your head,
    and chains around your neck.

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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.

Listen, sons, to a father’s instruction.
    Pay attention and know understanding;
for I give you sound learning.
    Don’t forsake my law.
For I was a son to my father,
    tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.
He taught me, and said to me:
    “Let your heart retain my words.
    Keep my commandments, and live.

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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.

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a glad father;
    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 makes a father glad,
    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 He who becomes the father of a fool grieves.
    The father of a fool has no joy.

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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 her who bore him.

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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 He who robs his father and drives away his mother
    is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

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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 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
    his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

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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 is a generation that curses their father,
    and doesn’t bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes,
    yet are not washed from their filthiness.

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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 at his father,
    and scorns obedience to his mother:
    the ravens of the valley shall pick it out,
    the young eagles shall eat it.

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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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