Proverbs 4

¹We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

¹¹Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

¹¹For you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children—

¹²encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

⁶By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.

⁹He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

³⁰If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,

³¹if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments,

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

⁷For my mouth will speak the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

²Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.

³My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.

⁵And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore I must make preparations for it.” So David made lavish preparations before his death.

¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.

¹Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

¹⁰Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

⁵and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

²³I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵⁰And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

²Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

⁹As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

⁶These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

¹³Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.

⁵O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.

¹⁰and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

²¹Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,

¹²For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

¹⁶And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

¹⁷The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.

²³Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

¹⁶How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

³⁶What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

³⁰Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the Lord declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.

⁵One night at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”

⁶Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

⁴The rewards of humility and the fear of the Lord are wealth and honor and life.

⁹For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.

⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

⁷You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor

⁸and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.

⁵On that day the Lord of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,

²¹To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

¹³And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.

²for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.

²so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the Lord your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.

²⁰Now, O women, hear the word of the Lord. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁵This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.

⁵Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

⁹They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

²³As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.

²⁴Above all, fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.

³He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.

²³Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.

³⁶You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.

⁸and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world.

¹⁰But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”

¹⁰Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.

¹¹But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.

¹We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

²³Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

⁴⁷For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

²¹but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

¹⁵my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

⁶Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents

²²Abstain from every form of evil.

⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

¹⁴if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents,

⁸Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

⁴Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

¹Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.

¹⁴Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

⁶⁶At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, met together. They led Jesus into their Sanhedrin and said,

¹²For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

¹⁷Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.

⁴Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the Lord.

⁴Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

¹³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

¹²Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹⁷Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

³⁵Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

⁹Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

¹⁰Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.

¹²“Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

⁵Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

⁶The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.

⁹He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁶Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

³Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

²¹Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.

¹My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.

¹A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

¹²So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

²¹My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.

³Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

¹My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.

²Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

⁸I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

⁶Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.

¹⁸Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.

⁸This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

⁴he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.

⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

²¹For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

²²greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

³He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous; none are crooked or perverse.

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

¹³To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

¹Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,

³⁷Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.

²²The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

¹³Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

²³The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.

⁵Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes!

³But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

⁵Now this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

⁷This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

³²So be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.

⁷Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.

¹⁴Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁷The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life.

³²See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!