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።
Get wisdom at any cost
1Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4Then he taught me, and he said to me,
‘Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
5Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7The beginning of wisdom is this: get4:7 Or Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,4:7 Or wisdom. / Whatever else you get get understanding.
8Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honour you.
9She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.’
10Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
12When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
14Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
15Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
16For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
17They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
19But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
20My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26Give careful thought to the4:26 Or Make level paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
