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Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
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For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother.
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Warning Against Adultery
My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
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Proverbs of Solomon
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
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A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
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A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him.
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Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
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If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
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Saying 17
Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
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May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!
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Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who destroys.
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A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.
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“There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers;
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“The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.
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Sayings of King Lemuel
The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.
