Proverbs 3

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

1  My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
2  for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.

3  Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4  So you will find favor and good successt
in the sight of God and man.

5  Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6  In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7  Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8  It will be healing to your flesht
and refreshmentt to your bones.

9  Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10  then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

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

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

13  Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
14  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit 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 honor.
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 blessed.

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.

21  My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
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 lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25  Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruint of the wicked, when it comes,
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,t
when it is in your power to do it.

28  Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it"—when you have it with you.
29  Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
who dwells trustingly beside you.
30  Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31  Do not envy a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways,
32  for the devious person is 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 dwelling of the righteous.
34  Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favor.t
35  The wise will inherit honor,
but fools gett disgrace.

Proverbs 4

A Father's Wise Instruction

1  Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gaint insight,
2  for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3  When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
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, and do not 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 you get, get insight.
8  Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9  She will place on your head a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown."

10  Hear, my son, 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 the evil.
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 over what they stumble.

20  My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21  Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22  For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all theirt 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 forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26  Pondert the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27  Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 5

Warning Against Adultery

1  My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
2  that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3  For the lips of a forbiddent woman drip honey,
and her speecht is smoother than oil,
4  but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5  Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path tot Sheol;
6  she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7  And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8  Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
9  lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
10  lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11  and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12  and you say, "How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14  I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation."

15  Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16  Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
17  Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18  Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19  a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicatedt always in her love.
20  Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?t
21  For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he ponderst all his paths.
22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23  He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.