Proverbs 4:13-23

13 Seize the instruction! Do not let go! Guard her, for she is your life.
14 In the path of the wicked do not go; do not walk in the way of those who do evil.
15 Avoid it; do not transgress it; turn away from it and pass by.
16 For they will not sleep if they have not done wrong, and they are robbed of their sleep if they do not cause stumbling.
17 For they ate the bread of wickedness, and they drank the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous ones [is] like the light of dawn, leading and shining until the day {is full}.
19 The way of the wicked ones [is] like deep darkness; they do not know what they stumble over.

Staying the Course

20 My child, be attentive to my words; to my sayings incline your ear.
21 May they not escape from your {sight}; keep them in [the] midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them and healing {to the entire body}.
23 With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it [comes] the source of life.

Proverbs 4:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 4

In this chapter Solomon advises to seek after wisdom, to avoid bad company, and to continue in the right paths of goodness and truth: he excites attention to what he had to say, from the relation he stood in to the persons addressed; from the nature of his instructions, which were good and profitable; and from his own example, in attending to those his parents gave him, Pr 4:1-4; He exhorts above all things to get wisdom, from the superior excellency of it, and from the preservation, promotion, and honour, to be had by it, Pr 4:5-9; and he further enforces big exhortations, from their being the means of a comfortable life, and of the prolongation of it, and of leading in a right way without straitness or stumbling, Pr 4:10-13. And then proceeds to caution against bad company, and going into a bad way of life; which is enforced from the mischief done by those that walk in it, and from the darkness of it, to which the path of the just is opposed, Pr 4:14-19. And the exhortation to attend to and observe his instructions, and keep them, is repeated, from the consideration of their being life and health to them, Pr 4:20-22; and that they might be preserved, and not departed from, direction's are given about ordering the heart, mouth, lips, eyes, and feet, Pr 4:23-27.

Footnotes 4

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.