The Enticement of Sinners

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;

For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, Just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

A Father’s Instruction

Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

My son, comply with the commandment of your father, And do not ignore the teaching of your mother;

Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked

The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

A fool rejects his father’s discipline, But he who complies with rebuke is sensible.

A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother.

Grandchildren are the crown of the old, And the glory of sons is their fathers.

He who fathers a fool does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy.

A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.

House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord.

He who assaults his father and drives his mother away Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set.

Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

Listen to your father, who fathered you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

He who keeps the Law is a discerning son, But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

He who robs his father or his mother And says, “There is no wrong done,” Is the companion of a person who destroys.

A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who involves himself with prostitutes wastes his wealth.