ጥበብ ከሁሉ በላይ መሆኗ
1ልጆቼ ሆይ፤ የአባትን ምክር አድምጡ፤
ልብ ብላችሁ ስሙ፤ ማስተዋልንም ገንዘብ አድርጉ።
2በጎ ትምህርት እሰጣችኋለሁ፤
ስለዚህ ትምህርቴን አትተዉ።
3በአባቴ ቤት ገና ለግላጋ ወጣት፣
ለእናቴም አንድ ልጇ ብቻ በነበርሁ ጊዜ፣
4አባቴ እንዲህ ሲል አስተማረኝ፤
“ቃሌን በሙሉ በልብህ ያዝ፤
ትእዛዜንም ጠብቅ፤ በሕይወት ትኖራለህ።
5ጥበብን አግኛት፤ ማስተዋልን ያዛት፤
ቃሌን አትርሳ፤ ከእርሷም ዘወር አትበል።
6ጥበብን አትተዋት፤ እርሷም ከለላ ትሆንሃለች፤
አፍቅራት፤ እርሷም ትጠብቅሃለች።
7ጥበብ ታላቅ ነገር ናት፤ ስለዚህ ጥበብን አግኛት፤
ያለህን ሁሉ4፥7 ወይም ያገኘኸውን ሁሉ ብታስከፍልህም ማስተዋልን ገንዘብህ አድርጋት።
8ክብርን ስጣት፤ ከፍ ከፍ ታደርግሃለች፤
ዕቀፋት፤ ታከብርሃለች፤
9በራስህ ላይ ሞገሳማ አክሊል ትደፋልሃለች፤”
የክብር ዘውድም ታበረክትልሃለች።
10ልጄ ሆይ፤ አድምጠኝ፤ ቃሌንም ልብ በል፤
የሕይወት ዘመንህም ትበዛለች።
11በጥበብ ጐዳና አስተምርሃለሁ፤
ቀጥተኛውንም መንገድ አሳይሃለሁ።
12ስትሄድ ርምጃህ አይሰናከልም፤
ስትሮጥም አትደናቀፍም።
13ምክርን አጥብቀህ ያዛት፤ አትልቀቃት፤
ጠብቃት፤ ሕይወትህ ናትና።
14ወደ ኀጥኣን ጐዳና እግርህን አታንሣ፤
በክፉ ሰዎች መንገድ አትሂድ፤
15ከዚያ አትድረስ፤ አትጓዝበት፤
ሽሸው፤ መንገድህን ይዘህ ሂድ፤
16ክፉ ካላደረጉ አይተኙምና፤
ሰውን ካላሰናከሉ እንቅልፍ በዐይናቸው አይዞርም።
17የክፋት እንጀራ ይበላሉ፤
የዐመፅ ወይን ጠጅ ይጠጣሉ።
18የጻድቃን መንገድ ሙሉ ቀን እስኪሆን ድረስ፣
ብርሃኑ እየጐላ እንደሚሄድ የማለዳ ውጋጋን ነው።
19የክፉዎች መንገድ ግን እንደ ድቅድቅ ጨለማ ነው፤
ምን እንደሚያሰናክላቸውም አያውቁም።
20ልጄ ሆይ፤ የምነግርህን አስተውል፤
ቃሌንም በጥንቃቄ አድምጥ።
21ከእይታህ አታርቀው፤
በልብህም ጠብቀው፤
22ለሚያገኘው ሕይወት፤
ለመላው የሰው አካልም ጤንነት ነውና።
23ከሁሉም በላይ ልብህን ጠብቅ፤
የሕይወት ምንጭ ነውና።
24ጥመትን ከአፍህ አስወግድ፤
ብልሹ ንግግርም ከከንፈሮችህ ይራቅ።
25ዐይኖችህ በቀጥታ ይመልከቱ፤
ትክ ብለህም ፊት ለፊት እይ።
26የእግርህን ጐዳና አስተካክል፤4፥26 ወይም ተመልከት
የጸናውን መንገድ ብቻ ያዝ።
27ወደ ቀኝ ወደ ግራ አትበል፤
እግርህን ከክፉ ጠብቅ።
1Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.4.9 a crown…: or, she shall compass thee with a crown of glory 10Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. 11I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. 12When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 13Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14¶ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20¶ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.4.22 health: Heb. medicine
23¶ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.4.23 with…: Heb. above all keeping 24Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.4.24 a froward…: Heb. frowardness of mouth and perverseness of lips 25Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.4.26 let…: or, all thy ways shall be ordered aright 27Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
