Proverbios 4:12-22

12 Cuando camines, no te detendrán;
cuando corras, no tropezarás.

13 Aférrate a mis instrucciones, no las dejes ir;
cuídalas bien, porque son la clave de la vida.

14 No hagas lo que hacen los perversos
ni sigas el camino de los malos.

15 ¡Ni se te ocurra! No tomes ese camino.
Aléjate de él y sigue avanzando.

16 Pues las personas malvadas no pueden dormir sin hacer la mala acción del día.
No pueden descansar sin antes hacer tropezar a alguien.

17 ¡Se alimentan de la perversidad
y beben el vino de la violencia!

18 El camino de los justos es como la primera luz del amanecer,
que brilla cada vez más hasta que el día alcanza todo su esplendor.

19 Pero el camino de los perversos es como la más densa oscuridad;
ni siquiera saben con qué tropiezan.

20 Hijo mío, presta atención a lo que te digo.
Escucha atentamente mis palabras.

21 No las pierdas de vista.
Déjalas llegar hasta lo profundo de tu corazón,

22 pues traen vida a quienes las encuentran
y dan salud a todo el cuerpo.

Proverbios 4:12-22 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.