4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding:

4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law:

4:3 For I was my father' s son, tender and only [beloved] in the sight of my mother:

4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live:

4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget [it] not; neither decline from the words of my mouth:

4:6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee:

4:7 Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding:

4:8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her:

4:9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee:

4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many:

4:11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths:

4:12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble:

4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let [her] not go: keep her; for she [is] thy life:

4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil:

4:15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away:

4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall:

4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence:

4:18 But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day:

4:19 The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: they know not at what they stumble:

4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings:

4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart:

4:22 For they [are] life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh:

4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life:

4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee:

4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee:

4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established:

4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil: