1. Overcoming Sin
My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother: For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.
My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them. If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;
Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death; Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth; Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:
My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways: For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man’s life. Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird: And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves. Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners. (Proverbs, 1:8-19)
2. Moral Benefits of Wisdom
My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind; So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge; Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge; If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;
Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours. For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason: He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil; He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him. Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.
For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul; Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you; Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false; Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads; Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner; Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil: To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue; Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind: For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades: Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life: So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright. For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage. But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted. (Proverbs, 2:1-22)
3. Wisdom bestows Well-Being
My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart: For they will give you increase of days, years of life, and peace. Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart; So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men. Put all your hope in God, not looking to your reason for support. In all your ways give ear to him, and he will make straight your footsteps.
Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil: This will give strength to your flesh, and new life to your bones. Give honour to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first-fruits of all your increase: So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.
My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord’s teaching; do not be made angry by his training: For to those who are dear to him the Lord says sharp words, and makes the son in whom he has delight undergo pain. Happy is the man who makes discovery of wisdom, and he who gets knowledge. For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold. She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her. Long life is in her right hand, and in her left are wealth and honour. Her ways are ways of delight, and all her goings are peace. She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her. The Lord by wisdom put in position the bases of the earth; by reason he put the heavens in their place. By his knowledge the deep was parted, and dew came dropping from the skies.
My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes. So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck. Then you will go safely on your way, and your feet will have no cause for slipping. When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.
Have no fear of sudden danger, or of the storm which will come on evil-doers: For the Lord will be your hope, and will keep your foot from being taken in the net. Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.
Do not make evil designs against your neighbour, when he is living with you without fear. Do not take up a cause at law against a man for nothing, if he has done you no wrong. Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example. For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.
The curse of the Lord is on the house of the evil-doer, but his blessing is on the tent of the upright. He makes sport of the men of pride, but he gives grace to the gentle-hearted. The wise will have glory for their heritage, but shame will be the reward of the foolish. (Proverbs, 3:1-35)
4. Acquire Wisdom at Any Cost
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. Do not give her up, and she will keep you; give her your love, and she will make you safe.
The first sign of wisdom is to get wisdom; go, give all you have to get true knowledge. Put her in a high place, and you will be lifted up by her; she will give you honour, when you give her your love. She will put a crown of grace on your head, giving you a head-dress of glory.
Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours. I have given you teaching in the way of wisdom, guiding your steps in the straight way. When you go, your way will not be narrow, and in running you will not have a fall. Take learning in your hands, do not let her go: keep her, for she is your life.
Do not go in the road of sinners, or be walking in the way of evil men. Keep far from it, do not go near; be turned from it, and go on your way. For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone’s fall. The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink. But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day.
The way of sinners is dark; they see not the cause of their fall. My son, give attention to my words; let your ear be turned to my sayings. Let them not go from your eyes; keep them deep in your heart. For they are life to him who gets them, and strength to all his flesh.
And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life. Put away from you an evil tongue, and let false lips be far from you. Keep your eyes on what is in front of you, looking straight before you. Keep a watch on your behaviour; let all your ways be rightly ordered. Let there be no turning to the right or to the left, keep your feet from evil. (Proverbs, 4:1-27)
5. Warning Against Adultery
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. For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil; But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword; Her feet go down to death, and her steps to the underworld; She never keeps her mind on the road of life; her ways are uncertain, she has no knowledge.
Give ear to me then, my sons, and do not put away my words from you. Go far away from her, do not come near the door of her house; 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 be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted; 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! I was in almost all evil in the company of the people.
Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain. Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places. Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you. Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years. As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love. Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales. The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin. He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way. (Proverbs, 5:1-23)
6. Taming the Tongue
There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again. (Proverbs, 12:18)
7. Guard thy Heart
And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life. (Proverbs, 4:23)
8. Never Give Up!
For an upright man, after falling seven times, will get up again: but trouble is the downfall of the evil. (Proverbs, 24:16)
9. True Friendship
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice. (Proverbs, 27:9)
10. Responsibility of Parents
If a child is trained up in the right way, even when he is old he will not be turned away from it. (Proverbs, 22:6)
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