Hear, my sons, the instruction of a father,
And attend to know understanding:
For I give you good doctrine;
Forsake ye not my {Or, teaching}law.
For I was a son unto my father,
Tender and {Hebrew: an only one.}only beloved in the sight of my mother.
And he taught me, and said unto me:
Let thy heart retain my words;
Keep my commandments, and live;
Get wisdom, get understanding;
Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth;
Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee;
Love her, and she will keep thee.
{Or, The beginning of wisdom is, Get wisdom}Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom;
Yea, with all {Or, thou hast gotten}thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her, and she will promote thee;
She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.
She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace;
A crown of {Or, glory}beauty will she deliver to thee.
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;
And the years of thy life shall be many.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;
I have led thee in paths of uprightness.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;
And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go:
Keep her; for she is thy life.
Enter not into the path of the wicked,
And walk not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it;
Turn from it, and pass on.
For they sleep not, except they do evil;
And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light,
That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is as darkness:
They know not at what they stumble.
My son, attend to my words;
Incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from thine eyes;
Keep them in the midst of thy heart.
For they are life unto those that find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Keep thy heart {Or, above all that thou guardest}with all diligence;
For out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a wayward mouth,
And perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on,
And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
{Or, Weigh carefully}Make level the path of thy feet,
And let all thy ways be {Or, ordered aright}established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
Remove thy foot from evil.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 4,5 Spr 4,5
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?And scoffers delight them in scoffing,And fools hate knowledge?
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
Turn you at my reproof:Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;I will make known my words unto you.
My foot hath held fast to his steps;His way have I kept, and turned not aside.
So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom,And apply thy heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou cry after discernment,And lift up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seek her as silver,And search for her as for hid treasures:
Our heart is not turned back,Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
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.
The proud have had me greatly in derision:Yet have I not swerved from thy law.
O ye simple, understand prudence;And, ye fools, be of an understanding heart.
Many are my persecutors and mine adversaries;Yet have I not swerved from thy testimonies.
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,Seeing he hath no {Hebrew: heart.}understanding?
He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire,And {Or, quarrelleth with}rageth against all sound wisdom.
He that getteth {Hebrew: heart.}wisdom loveth his own soul:He that keepeth understanding shall find good.
Buy the truth, and sell it not;Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.