Proverbs — Chapter 4
Sons, heed the discipline of a father;Listen and learn discernment,
For I give you good instruction;Do not forsake my teaching.
Once I was a son to my father,The tender darling of my mother.
He instructed me and said to me,“Let your mind hold on to my words;Keep my commandments and you will live.
Acquire wisdom, acquire discernment;Do not forget and do not swerve from my words.
Do not forsake heraher See note at 1.20. and she will guard you;Love her and she will protect you.
The beginningbbeginning Or “best part.” of wisdom is—acquire wisdom;With all your acquisitions, acquire discernment.
Hug her to you and she will exalt you;She will bring you honor if you embrace her.
She will adorn your head with a graceful wreath;Crown you with a glorious diadem.”
My son, heed and take in my words,And you will have many years of life.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom;I guide you in straight courses.
You will walk without breaking stride;When you run, you will not stumble.
Hold fast to discipline; do not let go;Keep it; it is your life.
Do not enter on the path of the wicked;Do not walk on the way of evildoers.
Avoid it; do not pass through it;Turn away from it; pass it by.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done evil;Unless they make someone fall they are robbed of sleep.
They eat the bread of wickednessAnd drink the wine of lawlessness.
The path of the righteous is like radiant sunlight,Ever brightening until noon.
The way of the wicked is all darkness;They do not know what will make them stumble.
My son, listen to my speech;Incline your ear to my words.
Do not lose sight of them;Keep them in your mind.
They are life to those who find them,Healing for the whole body.
More than all that you guard, guard your mind,For it is the source of life.
Put crooked speech away from you;Keep devious talk far from you.
Let your eyes look forward,Your gaze be straight ahead.
Survey the course you take,And all your ways will prosper.
Do not swerve to the right or the left;Keep your feet from evil.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 10:1
“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”