1 Hear, you sons, the correction (or admonition) of a father,
And attend to learn discernment.
2 For I give you good doctrine,
Forsake you not my law.
3 For I was my father's son, (The Hebrew accent [Dechi] emphasizes this word to show [1] his own early training; [2] those whom he would instruct [vv.1,2]; [3] his instruction [vv.5-9])
Tender and unique in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said to me,
"Let your heart retain my words:
Take heed to my commandments, and live. (I.e. live again, in resurrection life. See Lev. 18:5. Earthly [not Godly] life could be enjoyed without keeping commandments.)
5 Get wisdom, get understanding:
Forget her not; neither decline from the sayings of my mouth.
6 Forsake her (i.e. Wisdom) not, and she shall guard you:
Love her, and she shall protect you. (Protect as one protects the apple of one's eye. See v.33.)
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:
And with all your getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote you:
She shall bring you to honour, because you do embrace her.
9 She shall give to your head an ornament of grace:
A diadem of beauty shall she deliver fully and freely to you.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;
Shall grow greater [through] the years of your life.
11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12 When you go, your steps shall not be straitened; (However hedged in our path seems, it opens up as we go forward.)
And if you run, you shall not stumble. (To walk is obligatory; to run is optional.)
13 Take fast hold of instruction; do not let her go:
Keep her; for she herself is your life.
14 Enter not into the path of the lawless,
And go not in the way of evil men. (Illustrations: Lot [Gen. 13:10-13]; Solomon [2 Kings 23:13. Cp. with 1 Kings 11:5]; Jehoshaphat [2 Chron. 18:1; 21:6. Cp with 2 Chron. 19:2; 22:2,3,10, and Prov. 6:27,28].)
15 Let that go, pass by it,
Turn from it, and pass on.
16 Because they sleep not, except they have done mischief;
And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. (The reason they don't sleep is because they mean mischief, and because they intend an occasion of stumbling.)
17 For they eat the bread (put for food in general) obtained by lawlessness,
And drink the wine obtained by violence.
18 But (marking the contrast between the growth of lawlessness [vv.16,17], and the growth of wisdom leading in right paths [vv.11,12]) the path of the just is as the the dawning of day, (Advancing and brightening till noon.)
That shines more and more to the stable part of the day. (When the sun seems stationary on the meridian. Illustrations: Jacob [Gen. 49:10,18. Heb. 11:21]; Nathanael [John 1:46-51]; Eunuch [Acts 27-39]; Cornelius [Acts 10. Cp. Prov. 15:9].)
19 The way of the lawless is in darkness:
They know not at what they stumble. (Illustrations: Korah [Num. 16:16-19]; Ahab [1 Kings 16:31]; Babylon [Isa. 47:11]; Jews [Jer. 5:19,25; 44:15-23. Ezex. 18:29. Acts 28:25,26].)
20 My son, attend to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not get away from from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those that find them,
And healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence; (Above all that must be guarded. Meaning being, guard the heart as the great citadel, for out of it are the source and outgoings of life)
For out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from a froward mouth,
And perverse lips put far from you.
25 Let your eyes look right on,
And let your eyelids look straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established. (Illustrations: Abraham [Gen. 24:1-9. See 3:5,6; Eleazar [Gen. 24:5]; Joshua [24:15]; Ruth [1:16-18]; David [Ps. 39;1]; Hezekiah [Ps. 119:50]; The good wife [Prov. 31:27] Daniel [1:8; 6:3,4]; contrast Asa [2 Chron. 16:1-9].)
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
Remove your foot from evil.