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Proverbs 4-6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 4-6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A Father’s Example
4 Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline,(A)
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,
2 for I am giving you good instruction.(B)
Don’t abandon my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and precious to my mother,
4 he taught me and said:
“Your heart must hold on to my words.
Keep my commands and live.(C)
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;(D)
don’t forget or turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you;
love her,(E) and she will guard you.
7 Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.
And whatever else you get, get understanding.(F)
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
if you embrace her, she will honor you.(G)
9 She will place a garland of grace on your head;
she will give you a crown of beauty.”(H)
Two Ways of Life
10 Listen, my son. Accept my words,(I)
and you will live many years.(J)
11 I am teaching you the way of wisdom;
I am guiding you on straight paths.(K)
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;(L)
when you run, you will not stumble.(M)
13 Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.(N)
Guard it, for it is your life.
14 Don’t set foot on the path of the wicked;(O)
don’t proceed in the way of evil ones.
15 Avoid it; don’t travel on it.
Turn away from it, and pass it by.
16 For they can’t sleep
unless they have done what is evil;
they are robbed of sleep
unless they make someone stumble.(P)
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,(Q)
shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;(R)
they don’t know what makes them stumble.(S)
The Straight Path
20 My son, pay attention to my words;
listen closely to my sayings.(T)
21 Don’t lose sight of them;(U)
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else,[a]
for it is the source of life.(V)
24 Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,(W)
and don’t let your lips talk deviously.
25 Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze[b] straight ahead.(X)
26 Carefully consider the path[c] for your feet,(Y)
and all your ways will be established.
27 Don’t turn to the right or to the left;(Z)
keep your feet away from evil.
Avoid Seduction
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely[d] to my understanding(AA)
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.(AB)
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are[e] smoother than oil,
4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood(AC)
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.(AD)
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.(AE)
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words of my mouth.(AF)
8 Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.(AG)
9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.(AH)
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely[f] to my mentors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”
Enjoy Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.(AI)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?(AJ)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.(AK)
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—
let her breasts always satisfy you;(AL)
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?(AM)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,(AN)
and He considers all his paths.(AO)
22 A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;(AP)
he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.(AQ)
23 He will die because there is no discipline,(AR)
and be lost because of his great stupidity.
Financial Entanglements
6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor[g]
or entered into an agreement with[h] a stranger,[i](AS)
2 you have been trapped by the words of your lips[j]—
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.(AT)
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,[k]
like a bird from a fowler’s trap.[l](AU)
Laziness
6 Go to the ant,(AV) you slacker!(AW)
Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.(AX)
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,(AY)
11 and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.(AZ)
The Malicious Man
12 A worthless person,(BA) a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,(BB)
13 winking(BC) his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
14 He always plots evil(BD) with perversity in his heart—
he stirs up trouble.(BE)
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly—beyond recovery.(BF)
What the Lord Hates
16 The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
17 arrogant eyes,(BG) a lying tongue,(BH)
hands that shed innocent blood,(BI)
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,(BJ)
feet eager to run to evil,(BK)
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,(BL)
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.(BM)
Warning against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.(BN)
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.(BO)
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,(BP)
and corrective discipline is the way to life.(BQ)
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,[m]
from the flattering[n] tongue of a stranger.(BR)
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty(BS)
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.(BT)
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,[o]
but an adulteress[p] goes after a precious life.(BU)
27 Can a man embrace fire[q]
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.(BV)
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.(BW)
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;(BX)
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery[r] lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.(BY)
33 He will get a beating[s] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a husband,(BZ)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:23 Or heart with all diligence
- Proverbs 4:25 Lit eyelids
- Proverbs 4:26 Or Clear a path
- Proverbs 5:1 Lit wisdom; stretch out your ear
- Proverbs 5:3 Lit her palate is
- Proverbs 5:13 Lit or turn my ear
- Proverbs 6:1 Or friend
- Proverbs 6:1 Lit or shaken hands for or with
- Proverbs 6:1 The Hb word for stranger can refer to a foreigner, an Israelite outside one’s family, or simply to another person.
- Proverbs 6:2 Lit mouth
- Proverbs 6:5 Lit hand
- Proverbs 6:5 Lit hand
- Proverbs 6:24 LXX reads from a married woman
- Proverbs 6:24 Lit smooth
- Proverbs 6:26 Or On account of a prostitute, [one is left with] only a loaf of bread
- Proverbs 6:26 Lit but a wife of a man
- Proverbs 6:27 Lit man take fire to his bosom
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit commits adultery with a woman
- Proverbs 6:33 Or plague
Proverbs 4-6
New International Version
Proverbs 4-6
New International Version
Get Wisdom at Any Cost
4 Listen, my sons,(A) to a father’s instruction;(B)
pay attention and gain understanding.(C)
2 I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4 Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold(D) of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.(E)
5 Get wisdom,(F) get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;(G)
love her, and she will watch over you.(H)
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get[a] wisdom.
Though it cost all(I) you have,[b] get understanding.(J)
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.(K)
9 She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.(L)”
10 Listen, my son,(M) accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.(N)
11 I instruct(O) you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.(P)
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.(Q)
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.(R)
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.(S)
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
16 For they cannot rest until they do evil;(T)
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.(U)
18 The path of the righteous(V) is like the morning sun,(W)
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.(X)
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;(Y)
they do not know what makes them stumble.(Z)
20 My son,(AA) pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.(AB)
21 Do not let them out of your sight,(AC)
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.(AD)
23 Above all else, guard(AE) your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.(AF)
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes(AG) look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[c] paths for your feet(AH)
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;(AI)
keep your foot from evil.
Warning Against Adultery
5 My son,(AJ) pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words(AK) of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;(AL)
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,(AM)
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.(AN)
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(AO)
7 Now then, my sons, listen(AP) to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,(AQ)
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[d] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.(AR)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!(AS)
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(AT)
in the assembly of God’s people.”(AU)
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain(AV) be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.(AW)
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer(AX)—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
21 For your ways are in full view(AY) of the Lord,
and he examines(AZ) all your paths.(BA)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;(BB)
the cords of their sins hold them fast.(BC)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,(BD)
led astray by their own great folly.(BE)
Warnings Against Folly
6 My son,(BF) if you have put up security(BG) for your neighbor,(BH)
if you have shaken hands in pledge(BI) for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[e]
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.(BJ)
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle(BK) from the hand of the hunter,(BL)
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(BM)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;(BN)
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer(BO)
and gathers its food at harvest.(BP)
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(BQ)
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest(BR)—
11 and poverty(BS) will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A troublemaker and a villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye,(BT)
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,(BU)
14 who plots evil(BV) with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up conflict.(BW)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(BX)
he will suddenly(BY) be destroyed—without remedy.(BZ)
16 There are six things the Lord hates,(CA)
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,(CB)
a lying tongue,(CC)
hands that shed innocent blood,(CD)
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,(CE)
19 a false witness(CF) who pours out lies(CG)
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.(CH)
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son,(CI) keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(CJ)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.(CK)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,(CL)
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,(CM)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(CN)
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(CO)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(CP) with another man’s wife;(CQ)
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(CR)
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(CS) has no sense;(CT)
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never(CU) be wiped away.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:7 Or Wisdom is supreme; therefore get
- Proverbs 4:7 Or wisdom. / Whatever else you get
- Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level
- Proverbs 5:9 Or years
- Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,
Proverbs 4-6
King James Version
Proverbs 4-6
King James Version
4 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
5 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
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