Proverbs 4

¹ Hearken, O sons, to a father's discipline, And attend in order to know understanding. ² For I give you good monition; Do not forsake my law. ³ When I was a young son before my father, Tender, and an only child before my mother, ⁴ He directed me and said to me: May your heart uphold my word; Keep my instruction and live; ⁵ Acquire wisdom; acquire understanding; Do not forget, and do not turn aside from the sayings of my mouth; ⁶ Do not forsake her, and she shall guard you; Love her, and she shall preserve you. ⁷ The principal thing is wisdom; acquire wisdom, And with all your acquisition, acquire understanding; ⁸ Highly regard her, and she shall raise you up; She shall bring you glory as you embrace her; ⁹ She shall bestow a wreath of grace on your head; A crown of beauty shall she award to you. ¹⁰ Hearken, my son, and take in my sayings, And they shall increase the years of your life. ¹¹ For in the way of wisdom I direct you; I cause you to tread in routes of uprightness. ¹² When you walk, your steps shall not be constricted, And when you run, you shall not stumble. ¹³ Hold fast to admonition; do not let your hold relax; Preserve her, for she is your life. ¹⁴ In the path of the wicked, do not enter, And do not progress along the way of evil men. ¹⁵ Renounce it; do not pass within it; Swerve from it, and pass on. ¹⁶ For they cannot sleep until they assuredly do evil, And their sleep is snatched away if they have not caused someone to stumble. ¹⁷ Indeed they dine on the bread of wickedness, And they drink the wine of violent acts. ¹⁸ While the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn's brightness, Advancing and becoming resplendent until the day is established, ¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like gloom; They do not know at what they stumble. ²⁰ My son, do attend to my words; To my sayings stretch out your ear; ²¹ Let them not steal away from before your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; ²² For they are life to those finding them, And to one's entire flesh, they are health. ²³ More than any guard-post, preserve your heart, For from it spring the outflowings of life. ²⁴ Put away from you a perverse mouth, And devious lips put far from you. ²⁵ Let your eyes look ahead, And your eyelids straight in front of you. ²⁶ Ponder the route of your foot, And all your ways, let them be established. ²⁷ Do not turn aside to the right or left; Take away your foot from evil.