Proverbs 4

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Listen, sons, to the discipline of a father, and pay attention, so that you may know prudence.	1 Listen, my children, to a father's instruction; pay attention, and learn what understanding is.
2 I will bestow upon you a good gift. Do not relinquish my law.	2 What I am offering you is sound doctrine: do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I, too, was the son of my father, tender and an only son in the sight of my mother.	3 I too was once a child with a father, in my mother's eyes a tender child, unique.
4 And he taught me, and he also said: “Let your heart accept my words. Keep my precepts, and you shall live.	4 This was what he used to teach me, 'Let your heart treasure what I have to say, keep my principles andyou wil live;
5 Obtain wisdom, obtain prudence. May you neither forget, nor turn away from, the words of my mouth.	5 acquire wisdom, acquire understanding, never forget her, never deviate from my words.
6 Do not send her away, and she will guard you. Love her, and she will preserve you.	6 Do not desert her, she will keep you safe; love her, she wil watch over you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is to obtain wisdom, and, with all that you possess, to acquire prudence.	7 The first principle of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; at the cost of all you have, acquire understanding!
8 Grasp her, and she will exalt you. You will be glorified by her, when you have embraced her.	8 Hold her close, and she wil make you great; embrace her, and she wil be your pride;
9 She will bestow upon your head an increase in graces, and she will protect you with a noble crown.	9 she will provide a graceful garland for your head, bestow a crown of honour on you.'
10 Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that years of life may be multiplied for you.	10 Listen, my child, take my words to heart, and the years of your life wil be multiplied.
11 I will demonstrate to you the way of wisdom. I will lead you along the paths of equity.	11 I have educated you in the ways of wisdom, I have guided you along the path of honesty.
12 When you have entered by these, your steps will not be constrained, and when running, you will have no obstacle.	12 When you walk, your going wil be unhindered, if you run, you wil not stumble.
13 Take hold of discipline. Do not dismiss it. Guard it, for it is your life.	13 Hold fast to discipline, never let her go, keep your eyes on her, she is your life.
14 Do not delight in the paths of the impious, nor permit the way of evil-doers to please you.	14 Do not fol ow the path of the wicked, do not walk the way that the evil go.
15 Take flight from it. Do not pass close to it. Turn away and abandon it.	15 Avoid it, do not take it, turn your back on it, pass it by.
16 For they do not sleep, unless they have done evil. And their sleep is quickly taken away from them, unless they have overthrown.	16 For they cannot sleep unless they have first done wrong, they miss their sleep if they have not madesomeone stumble;
17 They eat the bread of impiety, and they drink the wine of iniquity.	17 for the bread of wickedness is what they eat, and the wine of violence is what they drink.
18 But the path of the just is like a shining light: it advances and increases, even to the day of completion.	18 The path of the upright is like the light of dawn, its brightness growing to the ful ness of day;
19 The way of the impious is darkened. They do not know where they may fall.	19 the way of the wicked is as dark as night, they cannot tel the obstacles they stumble over.
20 My son, pay attention to my sermons, and incline your ear to my eloquent words.	20 My child, pay attention to what I am telling you, listen careful y to my words;
21 Let them not recede from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart.	21 do not let them out of your sight, keep them deep in your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them and health to all that is flesh.	22 For they are life to those who find them and health to al humanity.
23 Preserve your heart with all watchfulness, for life proceeds from this.	23 More than al else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wel springs of life.
24 Remove from yourself a corrupt mouth, and let detracting lips be far from you.	24 Turn your back on the mouth that misleads, keep your distance from lips that deceive.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, and let your eyelids precede your steps.	25 Let your eyes be fixed ahead, your gaze be straight before you.
26 Direct the path of your feet, and all your ways shall be secure.	26 Let the path you tread be level and al your ways be firm.
27 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.	27 Turn neither to right nor to left, keep your foot clear of evil.