A Father’s Instruction 1 CPDV Listen, sons, to the discipline of a father, and pay attention, so that you may know prudence. BSB BSB: Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
2 CPDV I will bestow upon you a good gift. Do not relinquish my law. BSB BSB: For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.
3 CPDV For I, too, was the son of my father, tender and an only son in the sight of my mother. BSB BSB: When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,
4 CPDV And he taught me, and he also said: “Let your heart accept my words. Keep my precepts, and you shall live. BSB BSB: he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
5 CPDV Obtain wisdom, obtain prudence. May you neither forget, nor turn away from, the words of my mouth. BSB BSB: Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
6 CPDV Do not send her away, and she will guard you. Love her, and she will preserve you. BSB BSB: Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.
7 CPDV The beginning of wisdom is to obtain wisdom, and, with all that you possess, to acquire prudence. BSB BSB: Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
8 CPDV Grasp her, and she will exalt you. You will be glorified by her, when you have embraced her. BSB BSB: Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
9 CPDV She will bestow upon your head an increase in graces, and she will protect you with a noble crown. BSB BSB: She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
10 CPDV Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that years of life may be multiplied for you. BSB BSB: Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
11 CPDV I will demonstrate to you the way of wisdom. I will lead you along the paths of equity. BSB BSB: I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths.
12 CPDV When you have entered by these, your steps will not be constrained, and when running, you will have no obstacle. BSB BSB: When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.
13 CPDV Take hold of discipline. Do not dismiss it. Guard it, for it is your life. BSB BSB: Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
14 CPDV Do not delight in the paths of the impious, nor permit the way of evil-doers to please you. BSB BSB: Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.
15 CPDV Take flight from it. Do not pass close to it. Turn away and abandon it. BSB BSB: Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
16 CPDV For they do not sleep, unless they have done evil. And their sleep is quickly taken away from them, unless they have overthrown. BSB BSB: For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
17 CPDV They eat the bread of impiety, and they drink the wine of iniquity. BSB BSB: For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
18 CPDV But the path of the just is like a shining light: it advances and increases, even to the day of completion. BSB BSB: The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 CPDV The way of the impious is darkened. They do not know where they may fall. BSB BSB: But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
20 CPDV My son, pay attention to my sermons, and incline your ear to my eloquent words. BSB BSB: My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 CPDV Let them not recede from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. BSB BSB: Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.
22 CPDV For they are life to those who find them and health to all that is flesh. BSB BSB: For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
23 CPDV Preserve your heart with all watchfulness, for life proceeds from this. BSB BSB: Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
24 CPDV Remove from yourself a corrupt mouth, and let detracting lips be far from you. BSB BSB: Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
25 CPDV Let your eyes look straight ahead, and let your eyelids precede your steps. BSB BSB: Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
26 CPDV Direct the path of your feet, and all your ways shall be secure. BSB BSB: Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
27 CPDV Turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left; yet turn your foot away from evil. For the Lord knows the ways that are on the right, and truly, those that are on the left are perverse. But he himself will make your courses straight. Then your journey will advance in peace. BSB BSB: Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.