The Enticement of Sinners

(A)Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
    and forsake not your mother's teaching,
for they are (B)a graceful garland for your head
    and (C)pendants for your neck.

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Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

Listen, my son,(A) to your father’s(B) instruction
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(C)
They are a garland to grace your head
    and a chain to adorn your neck.(D)

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Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

(A)My son, do not forget my teaching,
    (B)but let your heart keep my commandments,
for (C)length of days and years of life
    and (D)peace they will add to you.

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Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

My son,(A) do not forget my teaching,(B)
    but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years(C)
    and bring you peace and prosperity.(D)

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A Father's Wise Instruction

(A)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may (B)gain[a] insight,
for I give you good (C)precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
    (D)tender, (E)the only one in the sight of my mother,
he (F)taught me and said to me,
(G)“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    (H)keep my commandments, and live.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 4:1 Hebrew know

Get Wisdom at Any Cost

Listen, my sons,(A) to a father’s instruction;(B)
    pay attention and gain understanding.(C)
I give you sound learning,
    so do not forsake my teaching.
For I too was a son to my father,
    still tender, and cherished by my mother.
Then he taught me, and he said to me,
    “Take hold(D) of my words with all your heart;
    keep my commands, and you will live.(E)

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The Proverbs of Solomon

10 (A)The proverbs of Solomon.

(B)A wise son makes a glad father,
    (C)but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

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Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs(A) of Solomon:(B)

A wise son brings joy to his father,(C)
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

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22 (A)A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children,
    but (B)the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

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22 A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,
    but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.(A)

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20 (A)A wise son makes a glad father,
    but a foolish man despises his mother.

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20 A wise son brings joy to his father,(A)
    but a foolish man despises his mother.

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(A)Grandchildren are (B)the crown of the aged,
    and the glory of children is their fathers.

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Children’s children(A) are a crown to the aged,
    and parents are the pride of their children.

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21 He who (A)sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
    and the father of a fool has no joy.

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21 To have a fool for a child brings grief;
    there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.(A)

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25 (A)A foolish son is a grief to his father
    (B)and bitterness to (C)her who bore him.

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25 A foolish son brings grief to his father
    and bitterness to the mother who bore him.(A)

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13 (A)A foolish son is ruin to his father,
    and (B)a wife's quarreling is (C)a continual dripping of rain.

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13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,(A)
    and a quarrelsome wife is like
    the constant dripping of a leaky roof.(B)

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18 (A)Discipline your son, for there is hope;
    do not set your heart on (B)putting him to death.

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18 Discipline your children, for in that there is hope;
    do not be a willing party to their death.(A)

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26 He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother
    is (A)a son who brings shame and reproach.

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26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother(A)
    is a child who brings shame and disgrace.

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The righteous who (A)walks in his integrity—
    (B)blessed are his children after him!

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The righteous lead blameless lives;(A)
    blessed are their children after them.(B)

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