may the wise hear and increase learning, and the one who understands gain direction,

My child, may you keep your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teachings,

My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

My child, do not walk in their way. Keep your foot from their paths,

May you turn to my argument! Behold, I shall pour out my spirit upon you; I will make my words known to you.

Because I called out and you refused me, I stretched out my hand, yet there is none who heeds.

You have ignored all my counsel, and my reproof you are not willing [to accept].

then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me.

they were not willing [to accept] my counsel, they despised all my reproof.

Whoever listens to me will dwell in security and rest securely from dread and disaster."

My child, if you will receive my sayings, and hide my commands with you,

My child, do not forget my instruction, and may your heart guard my commands.

May loyal love and truth not forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them upon your heart.

Do not despise the discipline of Yahweh, my child. Do not be weary of his reproof

My child, may they not escape from your {sight}; may you keep sound wisdom and prudence.

For I have given you good instruction; do not forsake my teaching.

When I was a son to my father, tender and alone before my mother,

he taught me and said to me, "May your heart hold fast [to] my words; guard my commandments and live.

Get wisdom and insight; do not forget and do not turn from the sayings of my mouth.

Listen, my child, take my sayings, and [the] years of your life shall be great.

My child, be attentive to my words; to my sayings incline your ear.

May they not escape from your {sight}; keep them in [the] midst of your heart.

May your eyes look forward and your gaze be straight before you.

May the path of your foot be balanced and all your ways be sure.

My child, be attentive to my wisdom, and to my understanding incline your ear;

Now, O children, listen to me; do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.

and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!

May they be yours alone, and not for strangers [who are] with you.

May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.

[She is] a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you {always}; by her love may you be intoxicated continually.

Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor, [if] you have bound {yourself} to the stranger,

do this, then, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into {the palm of your neighbor's hand}: Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.

My child, keep [the] commandment of your father, and do not disregard [the] instruction of your mother.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart; may she not capture you with her eyelashes.

My child, guard my sayings; store my commandments with you.

Keep my commands and live, and my teaching like [the] {apple of your eye}.

Say to wisdom, "you are my sister," and you shall call insight, "{intimate friend}."

For at the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked down.

"Sacrifices of peace offerings [are] upon me; {today} I completed my vows.

[With] coverings I have adorned my couch, spreads of the linen of Egypt;

I have perfumed my bed [with] myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.

May your heart not turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her path.

"To you, O {people}, I call, and my cry is to the children of humankind.

Listen! For noble things I will speak, and upright things from the opening of my lips.

My mouth will utter truth, and wickedness [is] an abomination to my lips.

All sayings of my mouth [are] in righteousness; none of them are twisted and crooked.

Take my teaching and not silver; may you choose knowledge rather than choice gold.

By me kings reign, and rulers decree righteousness.

By me rulers rule, and nobles--all judges of righteousness.

I love {those who love me}, and those who seek me diligently shall find me.

Fortune and glory [are] with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.

My fruit is better than gold, even refined gold, and my yield than choice silver.

[in order] to endow those who love me [with] wealth, and I will fill their treasuries.

"Yahweh possessed me, [the] first of his ways, before his acts {of old}.

rejoicing in the world of his earth, and my delight [was] with the children of humankind.

"And now, children, listen to me; happy [are] those who will keep my ways.

Happy [is the] person who listens to me, [in order] to keep watch at my doors day by day, [in order] to guard the frames of my entrances.

For he who finds me [is] he who finds life, and he obtains favor from Yahweh.

But he who misses me injures himself. All those who hate me love death."

"Come, eat with my bread; drink with the wine I have mixed.

For by me your days shall increase, and years of life shall multiply for you.

"Whoever is simple, may he turn here!" As for he who lacks {sense}, she says to him,

On the road of righteousness is life, and [on] the way of the path, [may there be] no death.

Even in laughter, a heart may be sad, and the end of joy [may be] grief.

[May] a man meet a she-bear robbed of offspring and not a fool in his folly.

The spirit of a man will endure his sickness, but a broken spirit, who may bear it?

The poor may speak entreaties, but the rich will answer roughly.

The scoffer you shall strike, and the simple, may they learn prudence, and reprove the intelligent [and] he will gain knowledge.

Cease to listen to instruction, my child, {and you will stray} from sayings of knowledge.

Who will say "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching.

Do not tire [in order] to become rich; out of your understanding, [may you] desist

My child, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad--even me!

And my {insides} will rejoice when your lips speak what is upright.

May your heart not envy the sinners, but [live] in fear of Yahweh {all day}.

You, my child, hear and be wise, and direct your heart on the road

May your father and your mother be glad, and may she who bore you rejoice.

My child, may you give your heart to me, and may your eyes delight in my ways.

"They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know [it]. When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again."

My child, eat honey, for [it is] good, and the dripping of the honeycomb [is] sweet to your taste.

While your enemies are falling, do not rejoice; when he trips himself, may your heart not be glad

Fear Yahweh, my son, and the king; with those who change, do not associate.

Do not say, "Just as he has done to me, so shall I do to him; I will pay back the man according to his deed."

Then I myself saw and my heart considered; I looked, and I took hold of instruction:

{With patience} a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

May another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips.

Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, and I will answer him who reproaches me [with] a word.

Certainly I [am more] stupid than a man, and the understanding of humankind [is] not for me.

Two things I ask from you; do not deny me before I die:

Keep falsehood and a {lying word} far from me; do not give me poverty or wealth; provide me [with] food [only for] my need.

Or else I will be satisfied and will deny [him] and say "Who [is] Yahweh?" Or I will be poor and will steal and profane the name of my God.

Three of these are [too] wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them:

What, my son? And what, my son in my womb? And what, son of my vows?

Give to her from the fruit of her hand, and may they praise her works in the city gates.