Proverbs 4-5 (NIV84)

Proverbs 4

Wisdom Is Supreme

¹ Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.

² I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.

³ When I was a boy in my father’s house,
still tender, and an only child of my mother,

⁴ he taught me and said,
“Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you will live.

⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them.

⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷ Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, ^[a]get understanding.

⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.

⁹ She will set a garland of grace on your head
and present you with a crown of splendor.”

¹⁰ Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹ I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.

¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³ Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.

¹⁴ Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evil men.

¹⁵ Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.

¹⁶ For they cannot sleep till they do evil;
they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

¹⁷ They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

²² for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man’s whole body.

²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

²⁴ Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶ Make level ^[b] paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Proverbs 5

Warning Against Adultery

¹ My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
listen well to my words of insight,

² that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.

³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴ but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵ Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. ^[c]

⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

⁷ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.

⁸ Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,

⁹ lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,

¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man’s house.

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!

¹³ I would not obey my teachers
or listen to my instructors.

¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly.”

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 be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love.

²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?

²¹ For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.

²² The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.

²³ He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 4:7 Or Whatever else you get
2. Proverbs 4:26 Or Consider the
3. Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew Sheol