4 My children, listen to your father’s teachings.

≈Pay attention so you’ll learn well,

2 because I’ll give you good teaching.

Don’t abandon my instructions.

3 When I was a boy in my father’s house,

≈and I was my mother’s tender son,

4 then he taught me and told me,

“Remember what I have told you.

≈Follow my instructions and live.

5 Acquire wisdom and understanding.

≈Always remember what I’ve told you and keep doing it.

6 Don’t abandon wisdom and it’ll preserve you.

≈Love it, and it will guard you.

7 Wisdom is the priority—get hold of it,

and more than anything, acquire understanding.

8 Esteem wisdom and it will lift you up.

≈Wisdom will honour you when you embrace it.

9 Wisdom will place a wreath of grace on your head.

≈It’ll present you with a crown of beauty.

10 My child, listen to my words and accept them,

→and that’ll increase the years of your life.

11 I taught you how to act wisely,

≈and I directed you towards the right paths.

12 When you walk, your steps won’t be hampered,

≈and if you run, you won’t stumble.

13 Take hold of my discipline—don’t let it go.

≈Guard it, because it’s your lifeline.

14 Don’t imitate what wicked people do,

≈and don’t go the same way as evil people.

15 Avoid that path—don’t even walk across it.

≈Keep right away from it and go somewhere else,

16 because they can’t nap unless they’ve done some harm,

≈and they’ll be robbed of sleep if they haven’t caused trouble.

17 Those evil people eat the bread of wickedness,

≈and drink the wine of violence.

18 In contrast, the path of those who do what is right, is like a bright light,

→that keeps getting brighter until the brightest time of day.

19 The path of wicked people is like the deep darkness,

→so they don’t even know what they’re stumbling over.

20 My child, pay attention to what I’m saying,

≈and let my words sink in.

21 Don’t let them out of your sight,

≈and keep them in the centre of your thoughts,

22 because they’re life to those who find them,

≈and healing to their entire bodies.

23 Guard your mind and thoughts more than anything else,

→because the way you live all your life, bubbles out from your values.

24 Remove perverse talk from your mouth,

≈and keep devious words away from your lips.

25 Keep your eyes looking towards the front,

≈and let your gaze be straight ahead.

26 Make the path level for your footsteps,

and let everything you do be straight-forward.

27 Don’t veer to the left or to the right—

keep your feet away from evil paths.