Chapter 4

  Hear, [my] sons, the instruction of a father, And attend to know understanding:  

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  For I give you good doctrine; Forsake ye not my law.  

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  For I was a son unto my father, Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.  

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  And he taught me, and said unto me: Let thy heart retain my words; Keep my commandments, and live;  

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  Get wisdom, get understanding; Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth;  

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  Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee; Love her, and she will keep thee.  

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  Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom; Yea, with all thy getting get understanding.  

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  Exalt her, and she will promote thee; She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.  

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  She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace; A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee.  

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  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of thy life shall be many.  

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  I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness.  

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  When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.  

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  Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: Keep her; for she is thy life.  

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  Enter not into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men.  

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  Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on.  

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  For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.  

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  For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.  

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  But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.  

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  The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.  

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  My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings.  

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  Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart.  

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  For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh.  

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  Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.  

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  Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee.  

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  Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.  

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  Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.  

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  Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: Remove thy foot from evil.  

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