Proverbs 4
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 4
Acquire Wisdom[a]
1 Listen, my children, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2 What I am offering to you is sound advice;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a young boy in my father’s house,
tender in years and my mother’s only child,
4 he taught me and said:
“Let your heart hold fast to my words;
follow my instructions and you will live.
5 “Acquire wisdom and gain understanding;
never forget or turn aside from my words.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7 “The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom,
and no matter what the cost, acquire understanding.[b]
8 Extol wisdom, and she will exalt you;
if you embrace her, she will honor you.
9 She will place on your head a lovely garland
and bestow on you a crown of beauty.”
10 Listen, my son, and take my words to heart,
and the years of your life will be multiplied.
11 I have instructed you in the ways of wisdom
and led you along the paths of righteousness.
12 When you walk, your steps will be unimpeded,
and when you run, you will not stumble.[c]
13 Hold fast to instruction and never let her go;
guard her carefully, for she is your life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk on the road that evildoers follow.
15 Avoid it; do not go by it;
turn aside from it and go on your way.
16 For they cannot rest until they have first done wrong;[d]
they cannot sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 The bread of wickedness is their food,
and the wine of violence is their drink.[e]
18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which increases in brightness to the fullness of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness,[f]
and they cannot even see what they have stumbled over.
20 My son, concentrate attentively on my words;
pay heed to the instructions I pass on to you.
21 Do not let them slip from your mind;
keep them forever in your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
and provide health to their entire being.
23 Guard your heart with all possible vigilance,
for from it flow the wellsprings of life.[g]
24 Turn away from the mouth that deceives
and keep your distance from lips that mislead.[h]
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze on what lies before you.
26 Ensure that the path you tread is level,
and then your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve either to the right or to the left;
keep your foot far from evil.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:1 We already know the essence that this warm (though overly loquacious) exhortation preaches. In the name of Deuteronomy, it insists on vigilance and fidelity. For in this world of traditions, wisdom is transmitted like an education, from parents to children, from masters to disciples. Nonetheless, all must experience the cost for themselves: vigilance and the guarding of one’s heart constitute, as it were, the necessary inner freedom that allows people to make progress along the way. Mastery of self merits reward even now. By contrast, in verses 16-19, a fine psychological analysis paints the picture of the wicked, the person haunted repeatedly by deadly personal projects.
- Proverbs 4:7 It is the beginning of wisdom to strive to acquire wisdom—and to do so no matter what the cost (see note on Prov 3:1-18).
- Proverbs 4:12 In the path of life, wisdom is the best companion and guide; she will remove the obstacles that we can encounter.
- Proverbs 4:16 They cannot rest until they have first done wrong: the same trait is alluded to in Ps 36:5; Mic 2:1. King David, on the other hand, refused to rest until he had first done right, i.e., found a house for the Lord (see Ps 132:3-5).
- Proverbs 4:17 Evildoers are totally committed to wickedness and violence (see Prov 13:2; Job 15:16).
- Proverbs 4:19 Deep darkness: a path that leads to destruction (see note on Prov 2:13; see also Isa 59:9-10; Jer 23:12; Jn 11:10; 12:35).
- Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart . . . wellsprings of life: those who store up good things in their hearts ensure that their words and actions will be good. Jesus said, “The mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart” (Mt 12:34).
- Proverbs 4:24 See note on Prov 2:12.
Proverbs 4
Wycliffe Bible
4 Sons, hear ye the teaching of your father; and perceive ye (and understand ye), (so) that ye know prudence.
2 I shall give to you a good gift; forsake ye not my law. (I give you a good gift; do not ye abandon my instructions.)
3 For why and I was the son of my father, a tender son, and one begotten, before my mother. (For I was my father’s son, a tender son, and my mother’s only child.)
4 And my father taught me, and said, Thine heart receive my words; keep thou my behests (obey my commands), and thou shalt live.
5 Wield thou wisdom, wield thou prudence; forget thou not, neither bow thou away from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake thou not it, and it shall keep thee (safe); love thou it, and it shall keep thee (safe).
7 The beginning of wisdom, wield thou wisdom; and in all thy possession, get thou prudence. (The beginning of wisdom, is that thou first obtain wisdom; and among all thy possessions, of greatest importance is that thou get understanding.)
8 Take thou it, and it shall enhance thee; thou shalt be glorified of it, when thou hast embraced it. (Take thou it unto thy heart, and it shall advance thee, or shall promote thee, or raise thee up; thou shalt be honoured, when thou hast embraced it.)
9 It shall give increasings of graces to thine head; and a noble crown shall defend thee. (It shall bring many favours upon thee; and they shall adorn thee like a noble crown.)
10 My son, hear thou, and take my words (to heart); (so) that the years of (thy) life be multiplied to thee.
11 I shall show to thee the way of wisdom; and I shall lead thee by the paths of equity (and I shall lead thee on the fair ways).
12 Into which when thou hast entered, thy goings shall not be made strait; and thou shalt run, and shalt not have hurting (and thou shalt not be caused to stumble).
13 Hold thou (fast to my) teaching, and forsake [thou] it not; keep thou it (near), for it is thy life.
14 Delight thou not in the paths of wicked men; and the way of evil men please not thee. (Delight thou not in the paths of the wicked; and do not let the ways of evil people please thee.)
15 Flee thou from it, and pass thou not thereby; bow thou away, and forsake it.
16 For they sleep not, no but they have done evil; and sleep is ravished from them, no but they have deceived simple men. (For they do not sleep, unless first they have done some evil; and sleep is taken from them, unless first they have deceived those who be honest, or have integrity.)
17 They eat the bread of unpiety, and drink the wine of wickedness. (They eat evil bread, and drink wicked wine.)
18 But the path of just men goeth forth as light shining (But the path of the righteous goeth forth like a shining light), and increaseth till to perfect day.
19 The way of wicked men is dark (The way of the wicked is dark); they know not where, (or when,) they shall fall.
20 My son, harken thou (to) my words; and bow down thine ears to my speeches.
21 Go not they away from thine eyes (Let them not go away from thine eyes); keep thou them in the middle of thine heart.
22 For those be life to men finding those, and health of all flesh. (For they be life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.)
23 With all (safe) keeping keep thine heart (safe), for life cometh forth of it (for life cometh forth from it).
24 Remove thou a shrewd mouth from thee (Do not thou speak depraved things); and backbiting lips be far from thee.
25 Thine eyes see rightful things; and thine eyelids go before thy steps.
26 (Ad)dress thou [the] paths to thy feet (Direct thou the steps of thy feet), and all thy ways shall be stablished.
27 Bow thou not to the right side, neither to the left side; turn away thy foot from evil.
2001 by Terence P. Noble