Proverbs 4; Proverbs 5; Proverbs 6

Proverbs 4

1 My children, listen to what your father teaches you. Pay attention, and you will have understanding.

2 What I am teaching you is good, so remember it all.

3 When I was only a little boy, my parents' only son,

4 my father would teach me. He would say, "Remember what I say and never forget it. Do as I tell you, and you will live.

5 Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say.

6 Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe.

7 Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight.

8 Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will bring you honor.

9 She will be your crowning glory."

10 Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life.

11 I have taught you wisdom and the right way to live.

12 Nothing will stand in your way if you walk wisely, and you will not stumble when you run.

13 Always remember what you have learned. Your education is your life - guard it well.

14 Do not go where evil people go. Do not follow the example of the wicked.

15 Don't do it! Keep away from evil! Refuse it and go on your way.

16 Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone.

17 Wickedness and violence are like food and drink to them.

18 The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

19 The road of the wicked, however, is dark as night. They fall, but cannot see what they have stumbled over.

20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen to my words.

21 Never let them get away from you. Remember them and keep them in your heart.

22 They will give life and health to anyone who understands them.

23 Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

24 Never say anything that isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words.

25 Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame.

26 Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right.

27 Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way.

Proverbs 5

1 My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight.

2 Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge.

3 The lips of another man's wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil,

4 but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain.

5 She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death.

6 She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.

7 Now listen to me, sons, and never forget what I am saying.

8 Keep away from such a woman! Don't even go near her door!

9 If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people.

10 Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else.

11 You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away,

12 and you will say, "Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me?

13 I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them.

14 And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced."

15 Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone.

16 Children that you have by other women will do you no good.

17 Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers.

18 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married -

19 pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love.

20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?

21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

22 The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin.

23 They die because they have no self-control. Their utter stupidity will send them to their graves.

Proverbs 6

1 My child, have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts?

2 Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises?

3 Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you.

4 Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest.

5 Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.

6 Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.

7 They have no leader, chief, or ruler,

8 but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter.

9 How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up?

10 "I'll just take a short nap," he says; "I'll fold my hands and rest a while."

11 But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

12 Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies.

13 They wink and make gestures to deceive you,

14 all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere.

15 Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.

16 There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, a witness who tells one lie after another, and someone who stirs up trouble among friends

20 Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you.

21 Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart.

22 Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day.

23 Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live.

24 It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives.

25 Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes.

26 A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.

27 Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes?

28 Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet?

29 It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer.

30 People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;

31 yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more - he must give up everything he has.

32 But a man who commits adultery doesn't have any sense. He is just destroying himself.

33 He will be dishonored and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced.

34 A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits.

35 He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.