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PROVERBS • CHAPTER 4
Proverbs 4
Practical wisdom, speech, work, money, sexuality, family, justice, self-control, leadership, and fear of Yahweh.
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Proverbs 4
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1
Listen, sons, to a father’s instruction.
Pay attention and know understanding;
Pay attention and know understanding;
2
for I give you sound learning.
Don’t forsake my law.
Don’t forsake my law.
3
For I was a son to my father,
tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.
tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.
4
He taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words.
Keep my commandments, and live.
“Let your heart retain my words.
Keep my commandments, and live.
5
Get wisdom.
Get understanding.
Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth.
Get understanding.
Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth.
6
Don’t forsake her, and she will preserve you.
Love her, and she will keep you.
Love her, and she will keep you.
7
Wisdom is supreme.
Get wisdom.
Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.
Get wisdom.
Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.
8
Esteem her, and she will exalt you.
She will bring you to honor when you embrace her.
She will bring you to honor when you embrace her.
9
She will give to your head a garland of grace.
She will deliver a crown of splendor to you.”
She will deliver a crown of splendor to you.”
10
Listen, my son, and receive my sayings.
The years of your life will be many.
The years of your life will be many.
11
I have taught you in the way of wisdom.
I have led you in straight paths.
I have led you in straight paths.
12
When you go, your steps will not be hampered.
When you run, you will not stumble.
When you run, you will not stumble.
13
Take firm hold of instruction.
Don’t let her go.
Keep her, for she is your life.
Don’t let her go.
Keep her, for she is your life.
14
Don’t enter into the path of the wicked.
Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
15
Avoid it, and don’t pass by it.
Turn from it, and pass on.
Turn from it, and pass on.
16
For they don’t sleep unless they do evil.
Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
and drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light
that shines more and more until the perfect day.
that shines more and more until the perfect day.
19
The way of the wicked is like darkness.
They don’t know what they stumble over.
They don’t know what they stumble over.
20
My son, attend to my words.
Turn your ear to my sayings.
Turn your ear to my sayings.
21
Let them not depart from your eyes.
Keep them in the center of your heart.
Keep them in the center of your heart.
22
For they are life to those who find them,
and health to their whole body.
and health to their whole body.
23
Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it is the wellspring of life.
for out of it is the wellspring of life.
24
Put away from yourself a perverse mouth.
Put corrupt lips far from you.
Put corrupt lips far from you.
25
Let your eyes look straight ahead.
Fix your gaze directly before you.
Fix your gaze directly before you.
26
Make the path of your feet level.
Let all of your ways be established.
Let all of your ways be established.
27
Don’t turn to the right hand nor to the left.
Remove your foot from evil.
Remove your foot from evil.
WISDOM
Where this chapter fits
Proverbs belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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