Proverbs 3:7-7:4

English Standard Version

⁷^(A)Be not wise in your own eyes;
^(B)fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be ^(C)healing to your flesh^[a]
and ^(D)refreshment^[b] to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with ^(E)the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰then your ^(F)barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹^(G)My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
¹²for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as ^(H)a father the son in whom he delights.

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

¹³^(I)Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
¹⁴^(J)for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than ^(K)gold.
¹⁵She is more precious than ^(L)jewels,
    and ^(M)nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶^(N)Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are ^(O)riches and honor.
¹⁷Her ^(P)ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸She is ^(Q)a tree of life to those who ^(R)lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹^(S)The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding ^(T)he established the heavens;
²⁰by his knowledge ^(U)the deeps broke open,
and ^(V)the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, ^(W)do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²²and they will be ^(X)life for your soul
    and ^(Y)adornment for your neck.
²³^(Z)Then you will walk on your way securely,
    ^(AA)and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴^(AB)If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, ^(AC)your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵^(AD)Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of ^(AE)the ruin^[c] of the wicked, when it comes,
²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence
    and will ^(AF)keep your foot from being caught.
²⁷^(AG)Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,^[d]
    when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸^(AH)Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
²⁹^(AI)Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who ^(AJ)dwells trustingly beside you.
³⁰^(AK)Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
³¹^(AL)Do not envy ^(AM)a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
³²for ^(AN)the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
    but the upright are ^(AO)in his confidence.
³³^(AP)The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he ^(AQ)blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
³⁴Toward the ^(AR)scorners he ^(AS)is scornful,
    ^(AT)but to the humble he gives favor.^[e]
³⁵The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get^[f] disgrace.

A Father's Wise Instruction

4 ^(AU)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may ^(AV)gain^[g] insight,
²for I give you good ^(AW)precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
³When I was a son with my father,
    ^(AX)tender, ^(AY)the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴he ^(AZ)taught me and said to me,
^(BA)“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    ^(BB)keep my commandments, and live.
⁵^(BC)Get wisdom; get ^(BD)insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    ^(BE)love her, and she will guard you.
⁷^(BF)The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get ^(BG)insight.
⁸Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will ^(BH)honor you ^(BI)if you embrace her.
⁹She will place on your head ^(BJ)a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰^(BK)Hear, ^(BL)my son, and accept my words,
    that ^(BM)the years of your life may be many.
¹¹I have ^(BN)taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹²When you walk, ^(BO)your step will not be hampered,
    and ^(BP)if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³^(BQ)Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your ^(BR)life.
¹⁴^(BS)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they ^(BT)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
    ^(BU)and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But ^(BV)the path of the righteous is like ^(BW)the light of dawn,
    which shines ^(BX)brighter and brighter until ^(BY)full day.
¹⁹^(BZ)The way of the wicked is like deep ^(CA)darkness;
    they do not know over what they ^(CB)stumble.

²⁰^(CC)My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹^(CD)Let them not escape from your sight;
    ^(CE)keep them within your heart.
²²For they are ^(CF)life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their^[h] flesh.
²³Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for ^(CG)from it flow ^(CH)the springs of life.
²⁴Put away from you ^(CI)crooked speech,
    and put ^(CJ)devious talk far from you.
²⁵^(CK)Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶^(CL)Ponder^[i] the path of your feet;
    ^(CM)then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷^(CN)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

5 ^(CO)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    ^(CP)incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep ^(CQ)discretion,
    and your lips may ^(CR)guard knowledge.
³For the lips of ^(CS)a forbidden^[j] woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[k] is ^(CT)smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is ^(CU)bitter as ^(CV)wormwood,
    ^(CW)sharp as ^(CX)a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet ^(CY)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[l] Sheol;
⁶she ^(CZ)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And ^(DA)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your ^(DB)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you ^(DC)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, ^(DD)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(DE)despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴^(DF)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink ^(DG)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your ^(DH)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water ^(DI)in the streets?
¹⁷^(DJ)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your ^(DK)fountain be blessed,
    and ^(DL)rejoice in ^(DM)the wife of your youth,
¹⁹    a lovely ^(DN)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts ^(DO)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated^[m] always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^(DP)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of ^(DQ)an adulteress?^[n]
²¹For ^(DR)a man's ways are ^(DS)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ^(DT)ponders^[o] all his paths.
²²The ^(DU)iniquities of the wicked ^(DV)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³^(DW)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is ^(DX)led astray.

Practical Warnings

6 My son, if you have put up ^(DY)security for your neighbor,
    have ^(DZ)given your pledge for a stranger,
²if you are ^(EA)snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
³then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten,^[p] and ^(EB)plead urgently with your neighbor.
⁴^(EC)Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
⁵save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,^[q]
    ^(ED)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶^(EE)Go to ^(EF)the ant, O ^(EG)sluggard;
    consider her ways, and ^(EH)be wise.
⁷^(EI)Without having any chief,
    ^(EJ)officer, or ruler,
⁸she prepares her bread ^(EK)in summer
    and ^(EL)gathers her food in harvest.
⁹^(EM)How long will you lie there, ^(EN)O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰^(EO)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    ^(EP)a little ^(EQ)folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹^(ER)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

¹²^(ES)A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with ^(ET)crooked speech,
¹³^(EU)winks with his eyes, signals^[r] with his feet,
    points with his finger,
¹⁴with ^(EV)perverted heart ^(EW)devises evil,
    continually ^(EX)sowing discord;
¹⁵therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    ^(EY)in a moment he will be broken ^(EZ)beyond healing.

¹⁶There are ^(FA)six things that the Lord hates,
    ^(FB)seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷^(FC)haughty eyes, ^(FD)a lying tongue,
    and ^(FE)hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸^(FF)a heart that devises wicked plans,
    ^(FG)feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹^(FH)a false witness who ^(FI)breathes out lies,
    and one who ^(FJ)sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

²⁰^(FK)My son, keep your father's commandment,
    ^(FL)and forsake not your mother's teaching.
²¹^(FM)Bind them on your heart always;
    ^(FN)tie them around your neck.
²²^(FO)When you walk, they^[s] will lead you;
    ^(FP)when you lie down, they will ^(FQ)watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
²³For the commandment is ^(FR)a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the ^(FS)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
²⁴to preserve you from the evil woman,^[t]
    from the smooth tongue of ^(FT)the adulteress.^[u]
²⁵^(FU)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her ^(FV)eyelashes;
²⁶for ^(FW)the price of a prostitute is only ^(FX)a loaf of bread,^[v]
    but a married woman^[w] ^(FY)hunts down a precious life.
²⁷Can a man carry ^(FZ)fire next to his ^(GA)chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸Or can one ^(GB)walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
    none who touches her ^(GC)will go unpunished.
³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to ^(GD)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
³¹but ^(GE)if he is caught, he will pay ^(GF)sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
³²He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
³³He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴For ^(GG)jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when ^(GH)he takes revenge.
³⁵He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(GI)My son, keep my words
    and ^(GJ)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(GK)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(GL)the apple of your eye;
³^(GM)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(GN)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,

Footnotes

Proverbs 3:8 Hebrew navel
Proverbs 3:8 Or medicine
Proverbs 3:25 Hebrew storm
Proverbs 3:27 Hebrew Do not withhold good from its owners
Proverbs 3:34 Or grace
Proverbs 3:35 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Proverbs 4:1 Hebrew know
Proverbs 4:22 Hebrew his
Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level
Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew palate
Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
Proverbs 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
Proverbs 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
Proverbs 5:21 Or makes level
Proverbs 6:3 Or humble yourself
Proverbs 6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter
Proverbs 6:13 Hebrew scrapes
Proverbs 6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse
Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife