Proverbs 3–5

TRUST THE LORD

3My son, don’t forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commands;^y

²for they will bring you

many days, a full life,^Az and well-being.^aa

³Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.

Tie them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.^ab

⁴Then you will find favor and high regard

with God and people.^ac

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart,^ad

and do not rely on your own understanding;^ae

⁶in all your ways know him,

and he will make your paths straight.^af

⁷Don’t be wise in your own eyes;^ag

fear the Lord and turn away from evil.^ah

⁸This will be healing for your body^Bai

and strengthening for your bones.^aj

⁹Honor the Lord with your possessions

and with the first produce of your entire harvest;^a

¹⁰then your barns will be completely filled,

and your vats will overflow with new wine.^b

¹¹Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,

and do not loathe his discipline;^c

¹²for the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.^d

WISDOM BRINGS HAPPINESS

¹³Happy is a man who finds wisdom^e

and who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver,

and her revenue is better than gold.^f

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels;^g

nothing you desire can equal her.^h

¹⁶Long life^A is in her right hand;

in her left, riches and honor.ⁱ

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant,^j

and all her paths, peaceful.

¹⁸She is a tree of life^k to those who embrace her,

and those who hold on to her are happy.

¹⁹The Lord founded the earth by wisdom^l

and established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By his knowledge the watery depths broke open,^m

and the clouds dripped with dew.ⁿ

²¹Maintain sound wisdom and discretion.

My son, don’t lose sight of them.^o

²²They will be life for you^Bp

and adornment^C for your neck.

²³Then you will go safely on your way;

your foot will not stumble.^q

²⁴When you lie^D down, you will not be afraid;^r

you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

²⁵Don’t fear sudden danger

or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,^s

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence^E

and will keep your foot from a snare.^t

TREAT OTHERS FAIRLY

²⁷When it is in your power,^F

don’t withhold good^u from the one to whom it belongs.

²⁸Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later.

I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you.^v

²⁹Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor,^w

for he trusts you and lives near you.

³⁰Don’t accuse anyone without cause,^x

when he has done you no harm.

³¹Don’t envy a violent man^y

or choose any of his ways;

³²for the devious are detestable to the Lord,

but he is a friend^A to the upright.^z

³³The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,^aa

but he blesses the home of the righteous;

³⁴He mocks those who mock

but gives grace to the humble.^ab

³⁵The wise will inherit honor,

but he holds up fools to dishonor.^B

A FATHER’S EXAMPLE

4Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline,^ac

and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²for I am giving you good instruction.^ad

Don’t abandon my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father,

tender and precious to my mother,

⁴he taught me and said,

“Your heart must hold on to my words.

Keep my commands and live.^ae

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding;^af

don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁶Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you;

love her,^ag and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.

And whatever else you get, get understanding.^ah

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you;

if you embrace her, she will honor you.^a

⁹She will place a garland of favor on your head;

she will give you a crown of beauty.”^b

TWO WAYS OF LIFE

¹⁰Listen, my son. Accept my words,^c

and you will live many years.^d

¹¹I am teaching you the way of wisdom;

I am guiding you on straight paths.^e

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;^f

when you run, you will not stumble.^g

¹³Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.^h

Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Keep off the path of the wicked;ⁱ

don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.

¹⁵Avoid it; don’t travel on it.

Turn away from it, and pass it by.

¹⁶For they can’t sleep

unless they have done what is evil;

they are robbed of sleep

unless they make someone stumble.^j

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,^k

shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;^l

they don’t know what makes them stumble.^m

THE STRAIGHT PATH

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words;

listen closely to my sayings.ⁿ

²¹Don’t lose sight of them;^o

keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them,

and health to one’s whole body.

²³Guard your heart above all else,^A

for it is the source of life.^p

²⁴Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly,^q

and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward;

fix your gaze^B straight ahead.^r

²⁶Carefully consider the path^C for your feet,^s

and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Don’t turn to the right or to the left;^t

keep your feet away from evil.

AVOID SEDUCTION

5My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

listen closely^D to my understanding^u

²so that you may maintain discretion

and your lips safeguard knowledge.^v

³Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey

and her words are^E smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood^w

and as sharp as a double-edged sword.^x

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps head straight for Sheol.^y

⁶She doesn’t consider the path of life;

she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, sons, listen to me,

and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth.^z

⁸Keep your way far from her.

Don’t go near the door of her house.^aa

⁹Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others

and your years to someone cruel;

¹⁰strangers will drain your resources,

and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.

¹¹At the end of your life, you will lament

when your physical body has been consumed,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

and how my heart despised correction.^ab

¹³I didn’t obey my teachers

or listen closely^F to my instructors.

¹⁴I am on the verge of complete ruin

before the entire community.”

ENJOY MARRIAGE

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

water flowing from your own well.^ac

¹⁶Should your springs flow in the streets,

streams in the public squares?^a

¹⁷They should be for you alone

and not for you to share with strangers.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed,

and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.^b

¹⁹A loving deer, a graceful doe^A—

let her breasts always satisfy you;^c

be lost in her love forever.

²⁰Why, my son, would you lose yourself

with a forbidden woman

or embrace a wayward woman?^d

²¹For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,^e

and he considers all his paths.^f

²²A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him;^g

he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.^h

²³He will die because there is no discipline,ⁱ

and be lost because of his great stupidity.