Proverbs 4-7

English Standard Version

A Father's Wise Instruction

4 ^(A)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may ^(B)gain^[a] insight,
²for I give you good ^(C)precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
³When I was a son with my father,
    ^(D)tender, ^(E)the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴he ^(F)taught me and said to me,
^(G)“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    ^(H)keep my commandments, and live.
⁵^(I)Get wisdom; get ^(J)insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    ^(K)love her, and she will guard you.
⁷^(L)The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get ^(M)insight.
⁸Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will ^(N)honor you ^(O)if you embrace her.
⁹She will place on your head ^(P)a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰^(Q)Hear, ^(R)my son, and accept my words,
    that ^(S)the years of your life may be many.
¹¹I have ^(T)taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹²When you walk, ^(U)your step will not be hampered,
    and ^(V)if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³^(W)Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your ^(X)life.
¹⁴^(Y)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they ^(Z)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
    ^(AA)and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But ^(AB)the path of the righteous is like ^(AC)the light of dawn,
    which shines ^(AD)brighter and brighter until ^(AE)full day.
¹⁹^(AF)The way of the wicked is like deep ^(AG)darkness;
    they do not know over what they ^(AH)stumble.

²⁰^(AI)My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹^(AJ)Let them not escape from your sight;
    ^(AK)keep them within your heart.
²²For they are ^(AL)life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their^[b] flesh.
²³Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for ^(AM)from it flow ^(AN)the springs of life.
²⁴Put away from you ^(AO)crooked speech,
    and put ^(AP)devious talk far from you.
²⁵^(AQ)Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶^(AR)Ponder^[c] the path of your feet;
    ^(AS)then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷^(AT)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

5 ^(AU)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    ^(AV)incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep ^(AW)discretion,
    and your lips may ^(AX)guard knowledge.
³For the lips of ^(AY)a forbidden^[d] woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[e] is ^(AZ)smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is ^(BA)bitter as ^(BB)wormwood,
    ^(BC)sharp as ^(BD)a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet ^(BE)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[f] Sheol;
⁶she ^(BF)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And ^(BG)now, O 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,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your ^(BH)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you ^(BI)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, ^(BJ)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(BK)despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴^(BL)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink ^(BM)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your ^(BN)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water ^(BO)in the streets?
¹⁷^(BP)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your ^(BQ)fountain be blessed,
    and ^(BR)rejoice in ^(BS)the wife of your youth,
¹⁹    a lovely ^(BT)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts ^(BU)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated^[g] always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^(BV)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of ^(BW)an adulteress?^[h]
²¹For ^(BX)a man's ways are ^(BY)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ^(BZ)ponders^[i] all his paths.
²²The ^(CA)iniquities of the wicked ^(CB)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³^(CC)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is ^(CD)led astray.

Practical Warnings

6 My son, if you have put up ^(CE)security for your neighbor,
    have ^(CF)given your pledge for a stranger,
²if you are ^(CG)snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
³then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten,^[j] and ^(CH)plead urgently with your neighbor.
⁴^(CI)Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
⁵save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,^[k]
    ^(CJ)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶^(CK)Go to ^(CL)the ant, O ^(CM)sluggard;
    consider her ways, and ^(CN)be wise.
⁷^(CO)Without having any chief,
    ^(CP)officer, or ruler,
⁸she prepares her bread ^(CQ)in summer
    and ^(CR)gathers her food in harvest.
⁹^(CS)How long will you lie there, ^(CT)O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰^(CU)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    ^(CV)a little ^(CW)folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹^(CX)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

¹²^(CY)A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with ^(CZ)crooked speech,
¹³^(DA)winks with his eyes, signals^[l] with his feet,
    points with his finger,
¹⁴with ^(DB)perverted heart ^(DC)devises evil,
    continually ^(DD)sowing discord;
¹⁵therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    ^(DE)in a moment he will be broken ^(DF)beyond healing.

¹⁶There are ^(DG)six things that the Lord hates,
    ^(DH)seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷^(DI)haughty eyes, ^(DJ)a lying tongue,
    and ^(DK)hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸^(DL)a heart that devises wicked plans,
    ^(DM)feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹^(DN)a false witness who ^(DO)breathes out lies,
    and one who ^(DP)sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

²⁰^(DQ)My son, keep your father's commandment,
    ^(DR)and forsake not your mother's teaching.
²¹^(DS)Bind them on your heart always;
    ^(DT)tie them around your neck.
²²^(DU)When you walk, they^[m] will lead you;
    ^(DV)when you lie down, they will ^(DW)watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
²³For the commandment is ^(DX)a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the ^(DY)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
²⁴to preserve you from the evil woman,^[n]
    from the smooth tongue of ^(DZ)the adulteress.^[o]
²⁵^(EA)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her ^(EB)eyelashes;
²⁶for ^(EC)the price of a prostitute is only ^(ED)a loaf of bread,^[p]
    but a married woman^[q] ^(EE)hunts down a precious life.
²⁷Can a man carry ^(EF)fire next to his ^(EG)chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸Or can one ^(EH)walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
    none who touches her ^(EI)will go unpunished.
³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to ^(EJ)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
³¹but ^(EK)if he is caught, he will pay ^(EL)sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
³²He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
³³He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴For ^(EM)jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when ^(EN)he takes revenge.
³⁵He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(EO)My son, keep my words
    and ^(EP)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(EQ)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(ER)the apple of your eye;
³^(ES)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(ET)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from ^(EU)the forbidden^[r] woman,
    from ^(EV)the adulteress^[s] with her smooth words.

⁶For at ^(EW)the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷and I have seen among ^(EX)the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man ^(EY)lacking sense,
⁸passing along the street ^(EZ)near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹in ^(FA)the twilight, in the evening,
    at ^(FB)the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(FC)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[t]
¹¹She is ^(FD)loud and ^(FE)wayward;
    ^(FF)her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(FG)at every corner she ^(FH)lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(FI)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to ^(FJ)offer sacrifices,^[u]
    and today I have ^(FK)paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with ^(FL)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(FM)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with ^(FN)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(FO)cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^(FP)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(FQ)her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[v]
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(FR)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And ^(FS)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(FT)a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is ^(FU)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 4:1 Hebrew know
Proverbs 4:22 Hebrew his
Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level
Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew palate
Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
Proverbs 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
Proverbs 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
Proverbs 5:21 Or makes level
Proverbs 6:3 Or humble yourself
Proverbs 6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter
Proverbs 6:13 Hebrew scrapes
Proverbs 6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse
Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
Proverbs 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool