Hear, you children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

Hear, children, the Father's mussar, and listen to know understanding.

For I give you good doctrine, forsake not my Tora.

"For I [(says the prophet, speaking in the name of the L-rd)] have given you a goodly acquisition; do not forsake My Torah."

For I was my father’s son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother.

For I was a son to my Father [viz. II Samuel 7:14], a tender and only (child) before my mother [i.e., select and beloved by my people].

He taught me also, and said to me, Let thy heart hold fast to my words: keep my commandments, and live.

And He taught me and He said to me: My words will sustain your heart; heed My mitzvoth and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding: do not forget it; nor decline from the words of my mouth.

Acquire wisdom; acquire understanding. Do not forget and do not stray from the words of My mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

Do not forsake it [Torah], and it will guard you; love it, and it will protect you.

The beginning of wisdom is, Get wisdom: therefore use all your means to acquire understanding.

The first of [your] wisdom [is to] acquire wisdom [from your teacher], and [afterwards,] in all of your acquisitions, acquire understanding [(of one thing from another)].

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she will bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

Search it [(wisdom)] out and it will uplift you; it will honor you when you embrace it.

She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she bestow on thee.

It will set upon your head a chaplet of grace; it will bestow a crown of glory upon you.

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

Hear my son and take My words, and they will add years of life unto you.

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

I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in just paths.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be confined; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

When you walk, your steps will not be constricted [(so that you will not fall)], and when you run, you will not stumble.

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

Hold fast to mussar [(Torah)]; do not let it go. Guard it, for it is your life.

Do not enter into the path of the wicked, and do not go in the way of evil men.

Do not come to the path of the wicked, and do not tread in the way of the evildoers.

Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it, and pass on.

Shun it; do not cross it. Veer away from it and pass on.

For they sleep not, unless they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

For they [(those who walk upon it)] do not sleep if they do no evil; their sleep is stolen if they cause no stumbling.

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

For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

But the path of just men is like the gleam of sunlight, that shines ever more brightly until the height of noonday.

But the path of the righteous is as the shining light [of day], growing in brightness until the day is fast [i.e., until mid-day].

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

But the way of the wicked is as pitch darkness; they know not what they stumble on.

My son, attend to my words; incline thy ear to my sayings.

My son, listen to My words; incline your ear to My exhortations.

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

Let them not depart from your eyes; guard them within your heart.

For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.

For they are life to him who finds them, and healing to all his flesh.

Keep thy heart with the greatest vigilance; for out of it are the issues of life.

From every guarding [(From everything of which the Torah said: "Guard yourself")], guard your heart [(whether it be a slight or a severe transgression)], for from it [(i.e., even from the seemingly slight one)] are the issues [(reward and punishment, respectively,)] of life.

Put away from thee a dissembling mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Remove from yourself crooking of the mouth [(of others in derision of your deeds)]; and widening of the lips [in condemnation of you] keep far from you.

Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee.

Let your eyes look before you [(for the straight and the true)], and your lids will straighten [the path] before you.

Make even the path of thy foot, and let all thy ways be firm.

Weigh the path of your feet [(the loss of a mitzvah against its reward; the "reward" of a transgression against its omission)], and all of your ways will be [correctly] established.

Do not turn to the right hand or to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Do not turn right or left [(from the just weight)]; remove your feet from evil.