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A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

My child,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
What you learn from them will crown you with grace
    and be a chain of honor around your neck.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:8 Hebrew My son; also in 1:10, 15.

7-9 How does a man become wise? The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord!

Only fools refuse to be taught. Listen to your father and mother. What you learn from them will stand you in good stead; it will gain you many honors.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:7 many honors, literally, “a fair garland and adornment.”

A Father’s Wise Advice

My children,[a] listen when your father corrects you.
    Pay attention and learn good judgment,
for I am giving you good guidance.
    Don’t turn away from my instructions.
For I, too, was once my father’s son,
    tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.

My father taught me,
“Take my words to heart.
    Follow my commands, and you will live.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew My sons.

1-2 Young men, listen to me as you would to your father. Listen, and grow wise, for I speak the truth—don’t turn away. For I, too, was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child, and the companion of my father. He told me never to forget his words. “If you follow them,” he said, “you will have a long and happy life.

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The Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child[a] brings joy to a father;
    a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:1 Hebrew son; also in 10:1b.

10 Happy is the man with a level-headed son; sad the mother of a rebel.

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20 Sensible children bring joy to their father;
    foolish children despise their mother.

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20 A sensible son gladdens his father. A rebellious son saddens his mother.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 15:20 saddens his mother, literally, “despises his mother.”

21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool;
    there is no joy for the father of a rebel.

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21 It’s no fun to be a rebel’s father.

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25 Foolish children[a] bring grief to their father
    and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:25 Hebrew A foolish son.

25 A rebellious son is a grief to his father and a bitter blow to his mother.

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26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother
    are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

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26 A son who mistreats his father or mother is a public disgrace.

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20 If you insult your father or mother,
    your light will be snuffed out in total darkness.

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20 God puts out the light of the man who curses his father or mother.

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11 Some people curse their father
    and do not thank their mother.
12 They are pure in their own eyes,
    but they are filthy and unwashed.

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11-12 There are those who curse their father and mother and feel themselves faultless despite their many sins.

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17 The eye that mocks a father
    and despises a mother’s instructions
will be plucked out by ravens of the valley
    and eaten by vultures.

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17 A man who mocks his father and despises his mother shall have his eye plucked out by ravens and eaten by vultures.

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