The Rewards of Wisdom

1My son, do not forget my teaching,

But let your heart keep my commandments;

2For length of days and years of life

And peace they will add to you.

3Do not let kindness and truth leave you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4So you will find favor and good repute

In the sight of God and man.

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

8It will be healing to your body

And refreshment to your bones.

9Honor the Lord from your wealth

And from the first of all your produce;

10So your barns will be filled with plenty

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

11My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord

Or loathe His reproof,

12For whom the Lord loves He reproves,

Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

13How blessed is the man who finds wisdom

And the man who gains understanding.

14For her profit is better than the profit of silver

And her gain better than fine gold.

15She is more precious than jewels;

And nothing you desire compares with her.

16Long life is in her right hand;

In her left hand are riches and honor.

17Her ways are pleasant ways

And all her paths are peace.

18She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,

And happy are all who hold her fast.

19The Lord by wisdom founded the earth,

By understanding He established the heavens.

20By His knowledge the deeps were broken up

And the skies drip with dew.

21My son, let them not vanish from your sight;

Keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22So they will be life to your soul

And adornment to your neck.

23Then you will walk in your way securely

And your foot will not stumble.

24When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

25Do not be afraid of sudden fear

Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;

26For the Lord will be your confidence

And will keep your foot from being caught.

27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

When it is in your power to do it.

28Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,

And tomorrow I will give it,”

When you have it with you.

29Do not devise harm against your neighbor,

While he lives securely beside you.

30Do not contend with a man without cause,

If he has done you no harm.

31Do not envy a man of violence

And do not choose any of his ways.

32For the devious are an abomination to the Lord;

But He is intimate with the upright.

33The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,

But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

34Though He scoffs at the scoffers,

Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.

35The wise will inherit honor,

But fools display dishonor.

A Father’s Instruction

1Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,

And give attention that you may gain understanding,

2For I give you sound teaching;

Do not abandon my instruction.

3When I was a son to my father,

Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

4Then he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

Keep my commandments and live;

5Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

7The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

8Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

9She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

10Hear, my son, and accept my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

11I have directed you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in upright paths.

12When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;

And if you run, you will not stumble.

13Take hold of instruction; do not let go.

Guard her, for she is your life.

14Do not enter the path of the wicked

And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

15Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Turn away from it and pass on.

16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

18But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

19The way of the wicked is like darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.

20My son, give attention to my words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

21Do not let them depart from your sight;

Keep them in the midst of your heart.

22For they are life to those who find them

And health to all their body.

23Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

24Put away from you a deceitful mouth

And put devious speech far from you.

25Let your eyes look directly ahead

And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

26Watch the path of your feet

And all your ways will be established.

27Do not turn to the right nor to the left;

Turn your foot from evil.

Pitfalls of Immorality

1My son, give attention to my wisdom,

Incline your ear to my understanding;

2That you may observe discretion

And your lips may reserve knowledge.

3For the lips of an adulteress drip honey

And smoother than oil is her speech;

4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5Her feet go down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6She does not ponder the path of life;

Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

7Now then, my sons, listen to me

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8Keep your way far from her

And do not go near the door of her house,

9Or you will give your vigor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

10And strangers will be filled with your strength

And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

11And you groan at your final end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

12And you say, “How I have hated instruction!

And my heart spurned reproof!

13I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

14I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15Drink water from your own cistern

And fresh water from your own well.

16Should your springs be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

17Let them be yours alone

And not for strangers with you.

18Let your fountain be blessed,

And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19As a loving hind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be exhilarated always with her love.

20For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress

And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

21For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And He watches all his paths.

22His own iniquities will capture the wicked,

And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

23He will die for lack of instruction,

And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.