Proverbs 4
A father teaches his son the importance of wisdom, discipline, and prudence, urging him to listen and pay attention to his words in order to live a long and virtuous life. He advises his son to obtain wisdom and prudence, and to love and guard them, for they will bring him honor and protection. The father warns his son to avoid the paths of the wicked and to take the path of the just, which is like a shining light that advances and increases. He instructs his son to keep his words in his heart, to preserve his heart with watchfulness, and to direct his path in order to live a secure and peaceful life.
1Listen, sons, to the discipline of a father, and pay attention, so that you may know prudence2I will bestow upon you a good gift. Do not relinquish my law3For I, too, was the son of my father, tender and an only son in the sight of my mother4And he taught me, and he also said: "Let your heart accept my words. Keep my precepts, and you shall live5Obtain wisdom, obtain prudence. May you neither forget, nor turn away from, the words of my mouth6Do not send her away, and she will guard you. Love her, and she will preserve you7The beginning of wisdom is to obtain wisdom, and, with all that you possess, to acquire prudence8Grasp her, and she will exalt you. You will be glorified by her, when you have embraced her9She will bestow upon your head an increase in graces, and she will protect you with a noble crown10Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that years of life may be multiplied for you11I will demonstrate to you the way of wisdom. I will lead you along the paths of equity12When you have entered by these, your steps will not be constrained, and when running, you will have no obstacle13Take hold of discipline. Do not dismiss it. Guard it, for it is your life14Do not delight in the paths of the impious, nor permit the way of evil-doers to please you15Take flight from it. Do not pass close to it. Turn away and abandon it16For they do not sleep, unless they have done evil. And their sleep is quickly taken away from them, unless they have overthrown17They eat the bread of impiety, and they drink the wine of iniquity18But the path of the just is like a shining light: it advances and increases, even to the day of completion19The way of the impious is darkened. They do not know where they may fall20My son, pay attention to my sermons, and incline your ear to my eloquent words21Let them not recede from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart22For they are life to those who find them and health to all that is flesh23Preserve your heart with all watchfulness, for life proceeds from this24Remove from yourself a corrupt mouth, and let detracting lips be far from you25Let your eyes look straight ahead, and let your eyelids precede your steps26Direct the path of your feet, and all your ways shall be secure27Turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left; yet turn your foot away from evil. For the Lord knows the ways that are on the right, and truly, those that are on the left are perverse. But he himself will make your courses straight. Then your journey will advance in peace
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