¹Hear, children, the discipline of a father, and give attention to know understanding.

²for I gave you good teaching; do not forsake my instruction.

³For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the presence of my mother.

⁴He taught me and said to me, Let your heart hold my words; keep my commandments and live.

⁵Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget, and do not incline away from the utterances of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom: acquire wisdom, and in all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Lift her up, and she will exalt you; she will honor you when you embrace her.

⁹She will set a wreath of favor on your head; she will deliver to you a crown of splendor.

¹⁰Hear, my son, and take my words, and the years of life will multiply for you.

¹¹In the way of wisdom I have set you; I have made you march in the tracks of uprightness.

¹²When you walk, your step will not be cramped, and if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold firm to discipline, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life.

¹⁴In the path of the wicked do not go, and do not advance in the way of the evil.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass along it; turn aside from it, and pass on.

¹⁶For they will not sleep unless they have done evil, and their sleep is robbed unless they have made someone stumble.

¹⁷For they fight for the bread of wickedness, and the wine of violence they drink.

¹⁸And the path of the righteous is like the light of brightness, going and shining until the day is established.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like the darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my utterances.

²¹Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the middle of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all his flesh.

²³More than all that you guard, keep your heart, for from it are the sources of life.

²⁴Remove from you the crookedness of the mouth, and put the deviation of the lips far away from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look to the front, and let your eyelids be straight before you.

²⁶Make level the track of your foot, and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not incline to the right or to the left; turn aside your foot from evil.