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 3,11 Spr 3,11
Behold, happy is the man whom God {Or, reproveth}correcteth:Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
If thou faint in the day of adversity,Thy strength is small.
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah,And teachest out of thy law;
But now it is come unto thee, and thou {Or, art grieved}faintest;It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
But {Or, when we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened.}when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, {Proverbs 3:11 f.}My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord,Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;
but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not:
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against {Many ancient authorities read themselves. Compare Numbers 16:38.}himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
{Or, Endure unto chastening}It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not?
But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of {Or, our spirits}spirits, and live?
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.
Wherefore {Greek: make straight.}lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;