To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,

To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity;

To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,

To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,

For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.

Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net
In the sight of any bird;

“Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

“But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;

From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;

To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

For her house sinks down to death
And her tracks lead to the dead;

None who go to her return again,
Nor do they reach the paths of life.

So you will walk in the way of good men
And keep to the paths of the righteous.

My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;

For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.

Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,

She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.

By His knowledge the deeps were broken up
And the skies drip with dew.

So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck.

Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.

Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.

Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.

For the devious are an abomination to the Lord;
But He is intimate with the upright.

Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.

For I give you sound teaching;
Do not abandon my instruction.

When I was a son to my father,
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

Then he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live;

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.

Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.

Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.

For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.

Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.

For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.

Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house,

Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be exhilarated always with her love.

He will die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;

Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,

“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest”—

There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,

My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;

Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.

When you walk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.

To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy himself when he is hungry;

For jealousy enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend;

Passing through the street near her corner;
And he takes the way to her house,

And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;

So she seizes him and kisses him
And with a brazen face she says to him:

“I was due to offer peace offerings;
Today I have paid my vows.

“Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.

Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.

Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.

“For my mouth will utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

“They are all straightforward to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate.

To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.

“Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.