Proverbs 4:13-23

13 Hold tight to good advice; don't relax your grip. Guard it well - your life is at stake!
14 Don't take Wicked Bypass; don't so much as set foot on that road.
15 Stay clear of it; give it a wide berth. Make a detour and be on your way.
16 Evil people are restless unless they're making trouble; They can't get a good night's sleep unless they've made life miserable for somebody.
17 Perversity is their food and drink, violence their drug of choice.
18 The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.
19 But the road of wrongdoing gets darker and darker - travelers can't see a thing; they fall flat on their faces. Learn It by Heart
20 Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.
21 Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
22 Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they're bursting with health.
23 Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.

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.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.