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- 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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