Proverbs 4 (New American Standard)

A Father's Instruction

1 Hear, O sons, the ¹instruction of a father, And ²give attention that you may ^again understanding, 2 For I give you ^bsound ³teaching ; ⁴Do not abandon my ^cinstruction. 3 When I was a son to my father, ⁵Tender and ⁶the only son in the sight of my mother, 4 Then he ⁷taught me and said to me, "Let your heart ⁸hold fast my words ; ⁹Keep my commandments and live ; 5 ¹⁰Acquire wisdom ! ¹¹Acquire understanding ! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 "Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; ¹²Love her, and she will watch over you. 7 "¹³The ^dbeginning of wisdom is: ¹⁴Acquire wisdom ; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. 8 "¹⁵Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. 9 "She will place ¹⁶on your head a garland of grace ; She will present you with a crown of beauty." 10 Hear, my son, and ¹⁷accept my sayings And the ¹⁸years of your life will be many. 11 I have ¹⁹directed you in the way of wisdom ; I have led you in upright paths. 12 When you walk, your ²⁰steps will not be impeded ; And if you run, you ²¹will not stumble. 13 ²²Take hold of instruction ; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your ²³life. 14 ²⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. 16 For they ²⁵cannot sleep unless they do evil ; And ^ethey are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. 17 For they ²⁶eat the bread of wickedness And drink the wine of violence. 18 But the ²⁷path of the righteous is like the ²⁸light of dawn, That ²⁹shines brighter and brighter until the ³⁰full day. 19 The ³¹way of the wicked is like darkness ; They do not know over what they ^f32stumble. 20 My son, ³³give attention to my words ; ³⁴Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 ³⁵Do not let them depart from your sight ; ³⁶Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are ³⁷life to those who find them And ³⁸health to all ^gtheir body. 23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For ³⁹from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you a ⁴⁰deceitful mouth And ⁴¹put devious ^hspeech far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your ⁱgaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 ⁴²Watch the path of your feet And all your ⁴³ways will be established. 27 ⁴⁴Do not turn to the right nor to the left ; ⁴⁵Turn your foot from evil.