Proverbs 4

¹ Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention, and learn what clear perception is.

² What I am commending to you is sound doctrine: do not discard my teaching.

³ I too was once a son with a father, in my mother’s eyes a tender child, unique.

⁴ This was what he used to teach me, ‘Let your heart treasure what I have to say, keep my principles and you shall live;

⁵ acquire wisdom, acquire perception, never forget her, never deviate from my words.

⁶ Do not desert her, she will keep you safe, love her, she will watch over you.

⁷ The beginning of wisdom? The acquisition of wisdom; at the cost of all you have, acquire perception.

⁸ Hold her close, and she will make you great; embrace her, and she will be your pride;

⁹ she will set a crown of grace on your head, present you with a glorious diadem.’

¹⁰ Listen, my son, take my words to heart and the years of your life shall be multiplied.

¹¹ I have educated you in the ways of wisdom, I have guided you along the paths of honesty.

¹² As you walk, your going will be unhindered, as you run, you will not stumble.

¹³ Hold fast to discipline, never let her go, keep your eyes on her, she is your life.

¹⁴ Never set your foot on the path of the wicked, do not walk the way that the evil go.

¹⁵ Avoid it, do not take it, turn your back on it, pass it by.

¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have first done wrong, they miss their sleep if they have not brought someone down;

¹⁷ wickedness is the bread they eat, and violence the wine they drink.

¹⁸ The path of the virtuous is like the light of dawn, its brightness growing to the fullness of day;

¹⁹ the way of the wicked is as dark as night, they cannot tell what it is they stumble over.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to my words, listen carefully to the words I say;

²¹ do not let them out of your sight, keep them deep in your heart.

²² They are life to those who grasp them, health for the entire body.

²³ More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life.

²⁴ Turn your back on the mouth that misleads, keep your distance from lips that deceive.

²⁵ Let your eyes be fixed ahead, your gaze be straight before you.

²⁶ Let the path you tread be level and all your ways made firm.

²⁷ Turn neither to right nor to left, keep your foot clear of evil.-