³ Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favor and good success
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty,
    and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord‘s discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
¹² for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
    by understanding he established the heavens;
²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
    and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹ My son, do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²² and they will be life for your soul
    and adornment for your neck.
²³ Then you will walk on your way securely,
    and your foot will not stumble.
²⁴ If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
    when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵ Do not be afraid of sudden terror
    or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
²⁶ for the Lord will be your confidence
    and will keep your foot from being caught.
²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
²⁹ Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who dwells trustingly beside you.
³⁰ Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
³¹ Do not envy a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
³² for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
    but the upright are in his confidence.
³³ The Lord‘s curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
³⁴ Toward the scorners he is scornful,
    but to the humble he gives favor.
³⁵ The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get disgrace.

¹⁰ Hear, my son, and accept my words,
    that the years of your life may be many.
¹¹ I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹² When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³ Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴ Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵ Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰ My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
²² For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their flesh.
²³ Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴ Put away from you crooked speech,
    and put devious talk far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

⁷ And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹ and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹² and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴ I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷ Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
¹⁹     a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated always in her love.
²⁰ Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
²¹ For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ponders all his paths.
²² The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³ He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray.