Proverbs 4-6 New International Version

Get Wisdom at Any Cost

4 Listen, my sons,^(A) to a father’s instruction;^(B)
    pay attention and gain understanding.^(C)
²I give you sound learning,
    so do not forsake my teaching.
³For I too was a son to my father,
    still tender, and cherished by my mother.
⁴Then he taught me, and he said to me,
    “Take hold^(D) of my words with all your heart;
    keep my commands, and you will live.^(E)
⁵Get wisdom,^(F) get understanding;
    do not forget my words or turn away from them.
⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;^(G)
    love her, and she will watch over you.^(H)
⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get^[a] wisdom.
    Though it cost all^(I) you have,^[b] get understanding.^(J)
⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
    embrace her, and she will honor you.^(K)
⁹She will give you a garland to grace your head
    and present you with a glorious crown.^(L)”

¹⁰Listen, my son,^(M) accept what I say,
    and the years of your life will be many.^(N)
¹¹I instruct^(O) you in the way of wisdom
    and lead you along straight paths.^(P)
¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
    when you run, you will not stumble.^(Q)
¹³Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
    guard it well, for it is your life.^(R)
¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
    or walk in the way of evildoers.^(S)
¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it;
    turn from it and go on your way.
¹⁶For they cannot rest until they do evil;^(T)
    they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.^(U)

¹⁸The path of the righteous^(V) is like the morning sun,^(W)
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.^(X)
¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;^(Y)
they do not know what makes them stumble.^(Z)

²⁰My son,^(AA) pay attention to what I say;
    turn your ear to my words.^(AB)
²¹Do not let them out of your sight,^(AC)
    keep them within your heart;
²²for they are life to those who find them
    and health to one’s whole body.^(AD)
²³Above all else, guard^(AE) your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.^(AF)
²⁴Keep your mouth free of perversity;
    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵Let your eyes^(AG) look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.
²⁶Give careful thought to the^[c] paths for your feet^(AH)
    and be steadfast in all your ways.
²⁷Do not turn to the right or the left;^(AI)
    keep your foot from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(AJ) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(AK) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(AL)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(AM)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(AN)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(AO)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(AP) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(AQ)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[d] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(AR)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(AS)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(AT)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(AU)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸May your fountain^(AV) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(AW)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(AX)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(AY) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(AZ) all your paths.^(BA)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(BB)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(BC)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(BD)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(BE)

Warnings Against Folly

6 My son,^(BF) if you have put up security^(BG) for your neighbor,^(BH)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge^(BI) for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[e]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.^(BJ)
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^(BK) from the hand of the hunter,^(BL)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.^(BM)

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(BN)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^(BO)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(BP)

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(BQ)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(BR)—
¹¹and poverty^(BS) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,^(BT)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(BU)
¹⁴    who plots evil^(BV) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(BW)
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(BX)
    he will suddenly^(BY) be destroyed—without remedy.^(BZ)

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^(CA)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,^(CB)
        a lying tongue,^(CC)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(CD)
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(CE)
¹⁹        a false witness^(CF) who pours out lies^(CG)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(CH)

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰My son,^(CI) keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^(CJ)
²¹Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.^(CK)
²²When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
²³For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,^(CL)
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,^(CM)
²⁴keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.^(CN)

²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(CO)
²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹So is he who sleeps^(CP) with another man’s wife;^(CQ)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^(CR)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³²But a man who commits adultery^(CS) has no sense;^(CT)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never^(CU) be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy^(CV) arouses a husband’s fury,^(CW)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^(CX)