Proverbs 22:17-21
New King James Version
Sayings of the Wise
17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
19 So that your trust may be in the Lord;
I have instructed you today, even you.
20 Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 (A)That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
(B)That you may answer words of truth
To those who [a]send to you?
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:21 Or send you
Proverbs 22:17-21
Authorized (King James) Version
17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee;
they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be in the Lord,
I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Have not I written to thee excellent things
in counsels and knowledge,
21 that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth;
that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Proverbs 22:17-21
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Words of the Wise
17 Listen closely,[a] pay attention to the words of the wise,(A)
and apply your mind to my knowledge.
18 For it is pleasing if you keep them within you
and if[b] they are constantly on your lips.
19 I have instructed you today—even you—
so that your confidence may be in the Lord.
20 Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings[c]
about counsel and knowledge,
21 in order to teach you true and reliable words,
so that you may give a dependable report[d](B)
to those who sent you?(C)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:17 Lit Stretch out your ear
- Proverbs 22:18 Or you; let them be, or you, so that
- Proverbs 22:20 Text emended; one Hb tradition reads you previously; alt Hb tradition reads you excellent things; LXX, Syr, Vg read you three times
- Proverbs 22:21 Lit give dependable words
Proverbs 22:17-21
New American Standard Bible 1995
17 (A)Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
18 For it will be (B)pleasant if you keep them within you,
[a]That they may be ready on your lips.
19 So that your (C)trust may be in the Lord,
I have [b]taught you today, even you.
20 Have I not written to you [c](D)excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make you (E)know the [d]certainty of the words of truth
That you may [e](F)correctly answer him who sent you?
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:18 Lit They together
- Proverbs 22:19 Lit made you know
- Proverbs 22:20 Or previous
- Proverbs 22:21 Lit truth
- Proverbs 22:21 Lit return to words of truth
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
