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

for they [are] a garland of favor for your head, and pendants for your neck.

We shall find all precious wealth, we shall fill our houses [with] booty,

you shall throw your lot in our midst, there will be one purse for all of us."

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

Thus are the ways of all who are greedy [for] gain-- it will take the life of its possessors.

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

I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic comes [upon] you.

When your panic comes like a storm, and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you,

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

[in order] to incline your ear toward wisdom, [then] you shall apply your heart to understanding.

For if you cry out for understanding, [if] you lift your voice for insight,

for wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul.

those who are happy to do evil, [for] they delight in [the] deviousness of evil,

{who are crooked in their ways}, and devious in their paths;

for her house sinks to death, and to the dead are her paths.

So that you will walk on the road of those who are good, and the paths of those who are righteous you shall keep.

For those who are upright will dwell [in the] land, and those who are blameless will remain in it.

And those who are wicked will be cut off from the land, and those who are treacherous will be uprooted from it.

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.

{Trust Yahweh} with all your heart; do not lean toward your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will straighten your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and retreat from evil.

There shall be healing for your {flesh}, and refreshment for your body.

Honor Yahweh from your substance, and from the firstfruits of all that will come to you,

and your barns shall be full of plenty, and your vats shall burst [with] new wine.

She is more precious than rubies, and all your desires shall not compare with her.

Length of days [is] in her right hand; in her left hand [are] riches and honor.

Her ways [are] ways of pleasantness, and all her paths [are] peace.

She is a tree of life for those who seize her; those who take hold of her are considered happy.

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

They shall be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

Then you will walk in the confidence of your ways, and your foot will not stumble.

If you sit down, you will not panic, and [if] you lie down, then your sleep shall be sweet.

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or the storm of wickedness that will come.

Yahweh will be {your confidence} and guard your foot from capture.

Do not withhold good from its owner when it is in the power of your hand to do.

Do not say to your neighbor, "Go and return and tomorrow I will give [it]," {when it is with you}.

Do not plot harm against your neighbor [who] dwells in confidence beside you.

for he who is perverse [is] an abomination of Yahweh, but those who are upright [are] his confidence.

With those who scorn, he is scornful, but to those who are humble, he gives favor.

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

The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! With all [that is in] your possession, gain insight.

She will give a garland for your head; she shall bestow a crown of glory upon you."

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

{When you walk}, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.

Seize the instruction! Do not let go! Guard her, for she is your life.

For they will not sleep if they have not done wrong, and they are robbed of their sleep if they do not cause stumbling.

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.

For they are life to those who find them and healing {to the entire body}.

With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it [comes] the source of life.

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.

Do not swerve right or left; remove your foot from evil.

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

[in order] to keep prudence, and knowledge will guard your lips.

Keep your paths far from her, and do not go near to the door of her house,

lest you give your honor to the others, and your years to the merciless,

lest strangers take [their] fill of your strength, and your labors [go] to the house of a foreigner,

and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed,

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

Drink water from your [own] cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well.

Shall your springs be scattered outward? In the streets, [shall there be] streams of water?

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.

For before the eyes of Yahweh [are] {human ways}, and all his paths he examines.

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

[if] you are snared by the sayings of your mouth, [if] you are caught by the sayings of your mouth,

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.

Do not give sleep to your eyes, or slumber to your eyelids.

Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand, or like a bird from the hand of a fowler.

It has no chief, officer, or ruler.

How long will you lie down, lazy? When will you rise up from your sleep?

like a {robber} shall your poverty come, and what you lack like an armed man.

There are six [things] Yahweh hates, and seven [things are] abominations of his soul:

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

Bind them on your heart continually; tie them upon your neck.

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

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

Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

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

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

So I have come out to meet you, to seek your face, and I have found you.

Come, let us take [our] fill of love making, until the morning let us delight in love.

until an arrow pierces his {entrails}, like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that {it will cost him his life}.

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

For many slain she has laid low, and countless [are] all of her killings.

The ways of Sheol [are] her house, descending to chambers of death.

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

All of them are straight to him who understands, and upright to those who find knowledge.

{Advice and sound judgment} are mine; I am understanding, {strength is mine}.

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

When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of {abounding} water.

When he had not yet made earth and fields, or the first dust of the world,

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

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

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and [if] you scoff, alone you shall bear [it].

"Stolen waters are sweet, and bread of secrecy is pleasant."