Old/New Testament
3 Beni (my son), forget not my torah; but let thine lev keep my mitzvot;
2 For orekh yamim (length of days), and shnot chayyim, and shalom, shall they add to thee.
3 Let not chesed and emes forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the luach (tablet) of thine lev;
4 So shalt thou find chen and seichel tov in the eyes of Elohim and adam.
5 Trust in Hashem with all thine lev, and lean not unto thine own binah (understanding).
6 In all thy drakhim acknowledge Him, and He shall make yosher thy orkhot (paths).
7 Be not chacham in thine own eyes; fear Hashem, and depart from rah.
8 It shall be rife’ut (health) to thy navel, and marrow to thy atzmot.
9 Honor Hashem with thy substance, and with the reshit (firstfruit) of all thine increase;
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall burst out with tirosh.
11 Beni (my son), despise not the musar Hashem; neither be weary of His tokhakhah (reproof);
12 For whom Hashem loveth, He correcteth; even as an av the ben in whom he delighteth.
13 Ashrei (happy) is the man that findeth chochmah, and the man that getteth tevunah (understanding).
14 For the gain of it is better than the gain of kesef, and the increase thereof than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than peninim (pearls); and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16 Orekh yamim is in her right hand; and in her left hand osher and kavod.
17 Her drakhim are drakhim of pleasantness, and all her netivot (trodden paths) are shalom.
18 She is an Etz Chayyim (Tree of Life) to them that lay hold upon her; and me’usher (blessed) is every one that holdeth her fast.
19 Hashem by chochmah hath founded Eretz (Earth); by tevunah (understanding) hath He established Shomayim.
20 By His da’as (knowledge) the tehomot (oceanic depths) were divided, and the clouds drop down the tal (dew).
21 Beni (my son), let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound judgment and mezimah (discretion);
22 So shall they be chayyim unto thy nefesh, and chen to thy neck.
23 Then shalt thou walk in thy derech safely, and thy regel shall not stumble.
24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; when thou liest down, thy sheynah (sleep) shall be sweet.
25 Be not afraid of sudden pachad (terror), neither of the desolation of the resha’im (wicked ones), when it cometh.
26 For Hashem shall be thy confidence, and shall be shomer over thy regel from the snare.
27 Withhold not tov from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine yad to do it.
28 Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and makhar (tomorrow) I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
29 Devise not ra’ah against thy re’a, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
30 Strive not with adam without cause, if he have done thee no ra’ah.
31 Envy thou not the ish chamas, and choose none of his drakhim.
32 For the perverse person is to’avat (detestable) to Hashem; but His sod (secret, intimate counsel) is with the yesharim (upright ones).
33 The curse of Hashem is in the bais of the rasha; but He puts a bracha on the dwelling of the tzaddikim.
34 Surely He scorneth the scorners; but He giveth chen (grace, favor) unto the anayim (lowly, humble ones).
35 The chachamim shall inherit kavod, but shame shall be the promotion of kesilim (fools).
4 Hear, ye banim, the musar (instruction, discipline) of an av, and attend to know binah (understanding).
2 For I give you lekach tov (good doctrine, good instruction), forsake ye not my torah.
3 For I was ben to avi, tender and yachid (an only child) before immi.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine lev retain my words; be shomer over my mitzvot, and live.
5 Acquire chochmah, acquire binah (understanding); forget it not; neither turn from the words of my peh (mouth).
6 Forsake her not, and she shall be shomer over thee; love her, and she shall protect thee.
7 Chochmah is the principal thing; therefore get chochmah, and with all thy getting get binah (understanding).
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall honor thee with kavod, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head a garland of chen; an ateret (crown) of tiferet (glory) shall she present to thee.
10 Hear, O beni (my son), and receive my sayings; and thy shnot chayyim shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the derech chochmah; I have led thee in ma’aglei yosher (right paths).
12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be hindered; and when thou runnest, lo tikashel (thou shalt not stumble).
13 Take firm hold of musar; let her not go; guard her; for she is thy chayyim.
14 Enter not into the orach resha’im, and go not on the derech ra’im (road of the wicked).
15 Avoid it, travel al (not) on it, turn from it, and pass on.
16 For they sleep not, unless they have done evil; and their sheynah (sleep) is robbed, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the lechem of resha, and drink the yayin of chamasim (violences).
18 But the orach tzaddikim (path of the righteous) is as the bright light, that shineth brighter and brighter unto the full day.
19 The derech resha’im is as deep darkness; they know not at what they stumble.
20 Beni (my son), attend to my words; incline thine ozen unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; be shomer over them within thine lev.
22 For they are chayyim unto those that find them, and health to all their basar.
23 Set watch over and guard thy lev with all diligence; for out of it are the totze’ot chayyim (issues, wellsprings of life cf Mk 7:20-23).
24 Put away from thee a deceitful peh (mouth), and perverse sfatayim (lips) put far from thee.
25 Let thine eynayim look straight forward, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the ma’agal (path) of thy raglayim, and let all thy drakhim be firm.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy regel from rah [T.N. Everyone in life has two paths to choose from just as Moshiach Tzidkeinu spoke of two gates, a wide one crowded with traffic and leading to destruction, and another one found by few but leading to life and redemption‖Mt 7:13-14].
5 Beni (my son), attend unto my chochmah, and bow thine ozen to my tevunah (understanding);
2 That thou mayest regard mezimah (discretion), and that thy sfatayim (lips) may keep da’as (knowledge).
3 For the sfatayim (lips) of a zarah (strange woman) drip as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than shemen (olive oil);
4 But her end is marah (bitter) as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged cherev.
5 Her raglayim go down to mavet; her steps lead to Sheol.
6 Lest thou shouldest compare [hers] to the orach chayyim, her ma’agalot (paths) are crooked, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye banim, and turn not from the words of my peh (mouth).
8 Remove thy derech far from her, and come not near the petach (doorway) of her bais;
9 Lest thou give thine hod (strength) unto others, and thy shanim unto the cruel one;
10 Lest zarim (strangers) be filled with thy koach; and thy toilings be in the bais nochri;
11 And thou mourn at the acharit (last, latter end, future), when thy basar and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated musar, and my lev spurned tokhakhat (reproof);
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my morim (teachers), nor inclined mine ear to the ones who were my melamed!
14 I was at the brink of all rah (evil, ruin) in the midst of the kahal (congregation) and edah (assembly).
15 Drink mayim out of thine own bor (cistern), and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Should thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and channels of mayim in the rekhovot (town squares)?
17 Let them be only thine own, and never zarim (strangers) with thee.
18 Let thy makor (fountain) be blessed; and rejoice with the isha of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving deer and graceful doe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou enraptured tamid (ever) with ahavat (love of) her.
20 And why wilt thou, beni (my son), be intoxicated with a zarah (strange woman), and embrace the kheyk (bosom) of a nochriyah (foreign [heathen] woman)?
21 For the drakhim ish are before the eyes of Hashem, and He pondereth all his ma’agalot (paths).
22 His own avonot shall entrap the rashah himself, and he shall be held fast by the cords of his chattat.
23 He shall die without musar; and in the greatness of his folly he shall be led astray.
1 From Sha’ul, a Shliach of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua birtzon Hashem (by the will of G-d), and Timotiyos, the Ach b’Moshiach; To the Kehillah (Congregation) of Hashem existing in Corinth, with all the Kadoshim throughout Achaia.
2 Chen v’Chesed Hashem to you and shalom from Elohim Avinu and Adoneinu Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.
3 Baruch hu Hashem Elohim Avi of Adoneinu Yehoshua, Avi HaRachamim vaElohei kol nechamah (comfort), [TEHILLIM 103:13; YESHAYAH 66:13]
4 The one giving us chizzuk (strengthening) with respect to all our tzoros so as to enable us to give chizzuk to the ones experiencing tzoros, and that through the nechamah (comfort) by which we ourselves are comforted (1:3) by Hashem. [YESHAYAH 49:13; 51:12; 66:13]
5 This is so because as the Chevlei Moshiach (birth pangs of Moshiach) abound to us, so through Moshiach abounds also our nechamah (1:3; YESHAYAH 51:12). [TEHILLIM 34:19; 94:19]
6 Now if we are experiencing tzoros, it is for your chizzuk (strengthening) and Yeshu’at Eloheinu; or if we are being given nechamah (comfort), it is for your nechamah that is producing in you the chozek (strength) of zitzfleisch (patience) for the endurance of the tzoros which we also suffer. [1Th 3:3]
7 And our tikvah (hope) for you is well-founded, for we have da’as that as you have deveykus (cleaving to) the Chevlei Moshiach, so also you will have deveykus to the nechamah.
8 For we do not want you to lack da’as, Achim b’Moshiach, as to the tzoros and tribulation that came upon us in Asia [Ac 19:23; 1C 15:32], that utterly beyond our strength we were burdened, causing us to come to a feeling of ye’ush (despair) even of being able to stay alive.
9 But we ourselves have had the gezar din (verdict) of mishpat mavet (a death sentence) in ourselves so that we should not have emunah (faith) in ourselves but in Hashem, Mechayyei Mesim (Who Revivest the Dead). [Shemoneh Esreh, YIRMEYAH 17:5,7]
10 The same G-d out of so great a Mavet delivered us and will continue to deliver us. We have set tikvateinu (our hope) that he will yet deliver us, [2 Ti 4:18]
11 As you also labor together for us by techinnah (supplication), so that the "Modeh Ani" for us will be said by the many (YESHAYAH 53:11-12) for the matanah (gift) granted us through the tefillos of the many.
12 For our glorying is in this: the edut (testimony) of our matzpun (conscience) [MJ 13:18] is that without remiyah (guile, fraud, deceit) and with lev tahor ("pure heart" TEHILLIM 51:12) with the sincerity of Hashem [2C 2:17] and not in the "chochmah" of the basar [1C 1:17] but in the Chen v’Chesed of Hashem, we conducted ourselves in the Olam Hazeh, and more especially toward you.
13 For we write nothing so shver (complex) to you that you cannot read and have binah (understanding), and I have tikvah that you will have da’as shlemah until HaKetz,
14 As you have already had da’as of us in part, as also we are your kavod [2C 5:12], even as also you are ours in the Yom Hashem of Adoneinu Yehoshua. [Pp 2:16]
15 And with this bitachon (confidence) I planned previously to come to you, that a second benefit you might have.
16 It was my cheshbon (plan) to visit you by way of Macedonia and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be sent on to Yehudah (Judea Ac 19:21; 1C 16:5,6).
17 This was my matarah (aim, goal); surely then I did not act with vacillation? Or when I make plans [2C 5:16], do I have a cheshbon according to the basar, ready with "Ken, Ken!" and then, "Lo! Lo!"
18 Al emunat Hashem (in the faithfulness of G-d), our dvar to you has not been "Ken" and "Lo."
19 For the Ben HaElohim, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, the One having been proclaimed among you by us, by Sila and Timotiyos and me [Ac 18:5], was not a "Ken and Lo"; but in Him it has always been "Ken."
20 For in Moshiach every one of Hashem’s havtachot (promises) is a "Ken." For this reason it is b’Shem Moshiach that we say the "Omein" to the kavod of Hashem [1C 14:16; Rv 3:14].
21 But it is Hashem who establishes us with you in Moshiach and has given us the mishchah (anointing 1Y 2:27),
22 Having put his chotam [seal of ownership BERESHIS 38:18; YECHEZKEL 9:4; Ep 1:13; 4:30; Rv 7:4] on us and having given the eravon (pledge) of the Ruach Hakodesh in our levavot. (hearts Ro 8:16; 2C 5:5; Ep 1:14). [BERESHIS 38:18; YECHEZKEL 9:4; CHAGGAI 2:23]
23 Now, I call upon Hashem as eidus (witness) against my nefesh, my neshamah (soul), that it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. [Ro 1:9; 2C 11:31; Pp 1:8; 1Th 2:5,10]
24 Not that we play the gontser macher to domineer over your emunah (faith) [1K 5:3], but we are fellow po’alim for your simcha, for by emunah you stand.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International