My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:

My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.

My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:

Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.

Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;

You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:

Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:

They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.

But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.

My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.

My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart:

My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:

She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.

My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.

Give ear, my sons, to the teaching of a father; give attention so that you may have knowledge:

For I give you good teaching; do not give up the knowledge you are getting from me.

For I was a son to my father, a gentle and an only one to my mother.

And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:

Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.

Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours.

My son, give attention to my words; let your ear be turned to my sayings.

My son, give attention to my wisdom; let your ear be turned to my teaching:

So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.

Give ear to me then, my sons, and do not put away my words from you.

For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:

And strange men may be full of your wealth, and the fruit of your work go to the house of others;

And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;

I did not give attention to the voice of my teachers, my ear was not turned to those who were guiding me!

Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms?

My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another,

Do this, my son, and make yourself free, because you have come into the power of your neighbour; go without waiting, and make a strong request to your neighbour.

My son, keep the rule of your father, and have in memory the teaching of your mother:

May a man take fire to his breast without burning his clothing?

Or may one go on lighted coals, and his feet not be burned?

Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.

My son, keep my sayings, and let my rules be stored up with you.

Keep my rules and you will have life; let my teaching be to you as the light of your eyes;

Say to wisdom, You are my sister; let knowledge be named your special friend:

So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.

Looking out from my house, and watching through the window,

I have a feast of peace-offerings, for today my oaths have been effected.

My bed is covered with cushions of needlework, with coloured cloths of the cotton thread of Egypt;

I have made my bed sweet with perfumes and spices.

So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;

I am crying out to you, O men; my voice comes to the sons of men.

Give ear, for my words are true, and my lips are open to give out what is upright.

For good faith goes out of my mouth, and false lips are disgusting to me.

All the words of my mouth are righteousness; there is nothing false or twisted in them.

Take my teaching, and not silver; get knowledge in place of the best gold.

For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.

I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.

The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me.

Through me kings have their power, and rulers give right decisions.

Through me chiefs have authority, and the noble ones are judging in righteousness.

Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.

Wealth and honour are in my hands, even wealth without equal and righteousness.

My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.

So that I may give my lovers wealth for their heritage, making their store-houses full.

The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past.

From eternal days I was given my place, from the birth of time, before the earth was.

Before the mountains were put in their places, before the hills was my birth:

Playing in his earth; and my delight was with the sons of men.

Give ear to me then, my sons: for happy are those who keep my ways.

Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go.

Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.

For whoever gets me gets life, and grace from the Lord will come to him.

But he who does evil to me, does wrong to his soul: all my haters are in love with death.

Come, take of my bread, and of my wine which is mixed.

For by me your days will be increased, and the years of your life will be long.

A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.

A man may be acting as if he had wealth, but have nothing; another may seem poor, but have great wealth.

Even while laughing the heart may be sad; and after joy comes sorrow.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, by which one may be turned from the nets of death.

A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.

A man may make designs for his way, but the Lord is the guide of his steps.

A thing may be put to the decision of chance, but it comes about through the Lord.

The spirit of a man will be his support when he is ill; but how may a broken spirit be lifted up?

There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.

Let your ear be open to suggestion and take teaching, so that at the end you may be wise.

A man's heart may be full of designs, but the purpose of the Lord is unchanging.

Who is able to say, I have made my heart clean, I am free from my sin?

Even a child may be judged by his doings, if his work is free from sin and if it is right.

A heritage may be got quickly at first, but the end of it will not be a blessing.

A man's steps are of the Lord; how then may a man have knowledge of his way?

Let your ear be bent down for hearing my words, and let your heart give thought to knowledge.

So that your faith may be in the Lord, I have made them clear to you this day, even to you.

To make you see how certain are true words, so that you may give a true answer to those who put questions to you?

My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;

And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.

Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.

They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.

My son, take honey, for it is good; and the flowing honey, which is sweet to your taste:

For fear that the Lord may see it, and it may be evil in his eyes, and his wrath may be turned away from him.

My son, go in fear of the Lord and the king: have nothing to do with those who are in high positions:

Say not, I will do to him as he has done to me; I will give the man the reward of his work.

The heaven is high and the earth is deep, and the hearts of kings may not be searched out.

Or your hearer may say evil of you, and your shame will not be turned away.

If you have honey, take only as much as is enough for you; for fear that, being full of it, you may not be able to keep it down.