My son, forget not my {Or, teaching}law;
But let thy heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and years of life,
And peace, will they add to thee.
Let not kindness and truth forsake thee:
Bind them about thy neck;
Write them upon the tablet of thy heart:
So shalt thou find favor and {Or, good repute}good understanding
In the sight of God and man.
Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart,
And lean not upon thine own understanding:
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
And he will {Or, make straight (or, plain)}direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:
It will be health to thy navel,
And {Or, refreshing Hebrew: moistening.}marrow to thy bones.
Honor Jehovah with thy substance,
And with the first-fruits of all thine increase:
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
And thy vats shall overflow with new wine.
My son, despise not the {Or, instruction}chastening of Jehovah;
Neither be weary of his reproof:
For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth;
Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,
And the man that {Hebrew: draweth forth.}getteth understanding.
For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver,
And the profit thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies:
And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:
And happy is every one that retaineth her.
Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding he established the heavens.
By his knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the skies drop down the dew.
My son, let them not depart from thine eyes;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
So shall they be life unto thy soul,
And grace to thy neck.
Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely,
And {Hebrew: thou shall not dash thy foot.}thy foot shall not stumble.
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid:
Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
Be not afraid of sudden fear,
Neither of the {Or, storm}desolation of the wicked, when it cometh:
For Jehovah will be thy confidence,
And will keep thy foot from being taken.
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.
Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again,
And to-morrow I will give;
When thou hast it by thee.
Devise not evil against thy neighbor,
Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
Strive not with a man without cause,
If he have done thee no harm.
Envy thou not the man of violence,
And choose none of his ways.
For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah;
But his {Or, counsel}friendship is with the upright.
The curse of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked;
But he blesseth the habitation of the righteous.
{Or, Though}Surely he scoffeth at the scoffers;
{Or, Yet}But he giveth grace unto the lowly.
The wise shall inherit glory;
But {Or, foots carry away shame}shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 3,8 Spr 3,8
For they are life unto those that find them,And health to all their flesh.
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
His pails are full of milk,And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.
He healeth the broken in heart,And bindeth up their {Hebrew: sorrows.}wounds.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil.
For thus saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous.
There is none to plead {Or, thy cause: for thy wound thou hast no medicines nor plaster}thy cause, {Hebrew: for closing up, or pressing.}that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.