Beginning

A Father’s Advice About Wisdom

4 Children, listen to your father’s teaching. Pay attention and you will learn how to learn. ² The advice I give is good, so don’t ever forget what I teach you.

³ When I was my father’s little boy and my mother’s dear son,^{[a] 4} my father taught me this: “Pay attention to what I say. Obey my commands and you will have a good life. ⁵ Try to get wisdom and understanding. Don’t forget my teaching or ignore what I say. ⁶ Don’t turn away from wisdom, and she will protect you. Love her, and she will keep you safe.

⁷ “The first step to becoming wise is to look for wisdom, so use everything you have to get understanding. ⁸ Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Hold on to wisdom, and she will bring you honor. ⁹ Wisdom will reward you with a crown of honor and glory.”

¹⁰ Son, listen to me. Do what I say, and you will live a long time. ¹¹ I am teaching you about wisdom and guiding you on the right path. ¹² As you walk on it, you will not step into a trap. Even if you run, you will not trip and fall. ¹³ Always remember this teaching. Don’t forget it. It is the key to life, so guard it well.

¹⁴ Don’t take the path of the wicked; don’t follow those who do evil. ¹⁵ Stay away from that path; don’t even go near it. Turn around and go another way. ¹⁶ The wicked cannot sleep until they have done something evil. They will not rest until they bring someone down. ¹⁷ Evil and violence are their food and drink.

¹⁸ The path of those who live right is like the early morning light. It gets brighter and brighter until the full light of day. ¹⁹ But the path of the wicked is like a dark night. They trip and fall over what they cannot see.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. ²¹ Don’t let them out of your sight. Never stop thinking about them. ²² These words are the secret of life and health to all who discover them. ²³ Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.

²⁴ Don’t bend the truth or say things that you know are not right. ²⁵ Keep your eyes on the path, and look straight ahead. ²⁶ Make sure you are going the right way, and nothing will make you fall. ²⁷ Don’t go to the right or to the left, and you will stay away from evil.

The Wisdom of Avoiding Adultery

5 Son, listen to this piece of wisdom from me. Pay attention to what I know to be true. ² Remember to live wisely, and what you learn will keep your lips from saying the wrong thing. ³ Now, another man’s wife might be very charming, and the words from her lips so sweet and inviting. ⁴ But in the end, she will bring only bitterness and pain. It will be like bitter poison and a sharp sword. ⁵ She is on a path leading to death, and she will lead you straight to the grave. ⁶ Don’t follow her. She has lost her way and does not even know it. Be careful. Stay on the road that leads to life.

⁷ Now, my sons, listen to me. Don’t forget the words I say. ⁸ Stay away from the woman who commits adultery. Don’t even go near her house. ⁹ If you do, others will get the honor you should have had. Some stranger will get everything you worked years to get. ¹⁰ People you don’t know will take all your wealth. Others will get what you worked for. ¹¹ At the end of your life, you will be sad that you ruined your health and lost everything you had. ^12-13 Then you will say, “Why didn’t I listen to my parents? Why didn’t I pay attention to my teachers? I didn’t want to be disciplined. I refused to be corrected. ¹⁴ So now I have suffered through just about every kind of trouble anyone can have, and everyone knows it.”

¹⁵ Now, about sex and marriage: Drink only the water that comes from your own well, ¹⁶ and don’t let your water flow out into the streets. ¹⁷ Keep it for yourself, and don’t share it with strangers. ¹⁸ Be happy with your own wife. Enjoy the woman you married while you were young. ¹⁹ She is like a beautiful deer, a lovely fawn. Let her love satisfy you completely. Stay drunk on her love, ²⁰ and don’t go stumbling into the arms of another woman.

²¹ The Lord clearly sees everything you do. He watches where you go. ²² The sins of the wicked will trap them. Those sins will be like ropes holding them back. ²³ Evil people will die because they refuse to be disciplined. They will be trapped by their own desires.

Dangers of Debt

6 My son, don’t make yourself responsible for the debts of others. Don’t make such deals with friends or strangers. ² If you do, your words will trap you. ³ You will be under the power of other people, so you must go and free yourself. Beg them to free you from that debt. ⁴ Don’t wait to rest or sleep. ⁵ Escape from that trap like a deer running from a hunter. Free yourself like a bird flying from a trap.

The Dangers of Being Lazy

⁶ You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them. ⁷ Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader. ⁸ But in the summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat.

⁹ You lazy people, how long are you going to lie there? When will you get up? ¹⁰ You say, “I need a rest. I think I’ll take a short nap.” ¹¹ But then you sleep and sleep and become poorer and poorer. Soon you will have nothing. It will be as if a thief came and stole everything you owned.

Troublemakers

¹² Some people are just troublemakers. They are always thinking up some crooked plan and telling lies. ¹³ They use secret signals to cheat people; they wink their eyes, shuffle their feet, and point a finger. ¹⁴ They are always planning to do something bad. ¹⁵ But they will be punished. Disaster will strike, and they will be destroyed. There will be no one to help them.

What the Lord Hates

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰ My son, remember your father’s command, and don’t forget your mother’s teaching. ²¹ Remember their words always. Tie them around your neck and keep them over your heart. ²² Let this teaching lead you wherever you go. It will watch over you while you sleep. And when you wake up, it will give you good advice.

²³ Your parents give you commands and teachings that are like lights to show you the right way. This teaching corrects you and trains you to follow the path to life. ²⁴ It stops you from going to an evil woman, and it protects you from the smooth talk of another man’s wife. ²⁵ Such a woman might be beautiful, but don’t let that beauty tempt you. Don’t let her eyes capture you. ²⁶ A prostitute might cost a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man could cost you your life. ²⁷ If you drop a hot coal in your lap, your clothes will be burned. ²⁸ If you step on one, your feet will be burned. ²⁹ If you sleep with another man’s wife, you will be punished.

^30-31 A hungry man might steal to fill his stomach. If he is caught, he must pay seven times more than he stole. It might cost him everything he owns, but other people understand. They don’t lose all their respect for him. ³² But a man who commits adultery is a fool. He brings about his own destruction. ³³ He will suffer disease and disgrace and never be free from the shame. ³⁴ The woman’s husband will be jealous and angry and do everything he can to get revenge. ³⁵ No payment—no amount of money—will stop him.