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Admonition to Trust and Honour God

3My child, do not forget my teaching,
   but let your heart keep my commandments;
² for length of days and years of life
   and abundant welfare they will give you.

³ Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
   bind them round your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favour and good repute
   in the sight of God and of people.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
   and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
   fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be a healing for your flesh
   and a refreshment for your body.

⁹ Honour the Lord with your substance
   and with the first fruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty,
   and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹ My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
   or be weary of his reproof,
¹² for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
   as a father the son in whom he delights.

The True Wealth

¹³ Happy are those who find wisdom,
   and those who get understanding,
¹⁴ for her income is better than silver,
   and her revenue better than gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than jewels,
   and nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;
   in her left hand are riches and honour.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
   and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
   those who hold her fast are called happy.

God’s Wisdom in Creation

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
   by understanding he established the heavens;
²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
   and the clouds drop down the dew.

The True Security

²¹ My child, do not let these escape from your sight:
   keep sound wisdom and prudence,
²² and they will be life for your soul
   and adornment for your neck.
²³ Then you will walk on your way securely
   and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴ If you sit down,^* you will not be afraid;
   when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵ Do not be afraid of sudden panic,
   or of the storm that strikes the wicked;
²⁶ for the Lord will be your confidence
   and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,^*
   when it is in your power to do it.
²⁸ Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Go, and come again;
   tomorrow I will give it’—when you have it with you.
²⁹ Do not plan harm against your neighbour
   who lives trustingly beside you.
³⁰ Do not quarrel with anyone without cause,
   when no harm has been done to you.
³¹ Do not envy the violent
   and do not choose any of their ways;
³² for the perverse are an abomination to the Lord,
   but the upright are in his confidence.
³³ The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
   but he blesses the abode of the righteous.
³⁴ Towards the scorners he is scornful,
   but to the humble he shows favour.
³⁵ The wise will inherit honour,
   but stubborn fools, disgrace.

Parental Advice

4Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
   and be attentive, that you may gain^* insight;
² for I give you good precepts:
   do not forsake my teaching.
³ When I was a son with my father,
   tender, and my mother’s favourite,
⁴ he taught me, and said to me,
‘Let your heart hold fast my words;
   keep my commandments, and live.
⁵ Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away
   from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
   love her, and she will guard you.
⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
   and whatever else you get, get insight.
⁸ Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
   she will honour you if you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head a fair garland;
   she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.’

Admonition to Keep to the Right Path

¹⁰ Hear, my child, and accept my words,
   that the years of your life may be many.
¹¹ I have taught you the way of wisdom;
   I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹² When you walk, your step will not be hampered;
   and if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
   guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴ Do not enter the path of the wicked,
   and do not walk in the way of evildoers.
¹⁵ Avoid it; do not go on it;
   turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
   they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness
   and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
   which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
   they do not know what they stumble over.
²⁰ My child, be attentive to my words;
   incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Do not let them escape from your sight;
   keep them within your heart.
²² For they are life to those who find them,
   and healing to all their flesh.
²³ Keep your heart with all vigilance,
   for from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴ Put away from you crooked speech,
   and put devious talk far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look directly forwards,
   and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶ Keep straight the path of your feet,
   and all your ways will be sure.
²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
   turn your foot away from evil.