4 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention, in order to gain insight;
² for I am giving you good advice;
so don’t abandon my teaching.
³ For I too was once a child to my father;
and my mother, too, thought of me as her special darling.
⁴ He too taught me; he said to me,
“Let your heart treasure my words;
keep my commands, and live;
⁵ gain wisdom, gain insight;
don’t forget or turn from the words I am saying.
⁶ Don’t abandon [wisdom]; then she will preserve you;
love her, and she will protect you.
⁷ The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom!
And along with all your getting, get insight!
⁸ Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will bring you honor;
⁹ she will give your head a garland of grace,
bestow on you a crown of glory.”

¹⁰ Listen, my son, receive what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
¹¹ I’m directing you on the way of wisdom,
guiding you in paths of uprightness;
¹² when you walk, your step won’t be hindered;
and if you run, you won’t stumble.
¹³ Hold fast to discipline, don’t let it go;
guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴ Don’t follow the path of the wicked
or walk on the way of evildoers.
¹⁵ Avoid it, don’t go on it,
turn away from it, and pass on.
¹⁶ For they can’t sleep if they haven’t done evil,
they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone fall.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining ever brighter until full daylight.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like darkness;
they don’t even know what makes them stumble.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I am saying;
incline your ear to my words.
²¹ Don’t let them out of your sight,
keep them deep in your heart;
²² for they are life to those who find them
and health to their whole being.

²³ Above everything else, guard your heart;
for it is the source of life’s consequences.
²⁴ Keep crooked speech out of your mouth,
banish deceit from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze on what lies in front of you.
²⁶ Level the path for your feet,
let all your ways be properly prepared;
²⁷ then deviate neither right nor left;
and keep your foot far from evil.