Children and Parents

¹Children, listen to me, for I am your father;

do what I tell you, so that you may be kept safe.

²The Lord has given the father a place of honor before his children

and has confirmed the mother’s authority over her children.

³Those who honor their father will have their sins forgiven,

⁴and those who respect their mother store up treasure.

⁵Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children,

and their prayers will be heard.

⁶Those who respect their father will enjoy a long life,

and those who comfort their mother obey the Lord.

⁷They submit to their parents as a servant would to his master.

⁸Honor your father by word and deed

so that you may receive his blessing.

⁹A father’s blessing strengthens the homes of his children,

but a mother’s curse tears out their foundations.

¹⁰Don’t seek to glorify yourself by dishonoring your father,

for his shame is no glory to you.

¹¹For people are glorified when their father is glorified,

and it is disgraceful for children not to honor their mother.

¹²My child, help your father in his old age,

and do not cause him grief during his life.

¹³Even if his mind fails, have patience with him,

and do not despise him when you are in your prime.

¹⁴For kindness to a father will not be forgotten

and will be recorded in your favor against your sins.

¹⁵When you are in trouble, your kindness will be remembered;

your sins will melt away like frost in the sunshine.

¹⁶Those who forsake their father are like blasphemers,

and those who anger their mother are cursed by the Lord.

Humility

¹⁷My child, do your work with humility,

and God’s people will love you.

¹⁸The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself;

then you will find favor with the Lord.

²⁰The Lord is great and powerful,

but he is honored by the humble.

²¹Don’t try to understand things that are too difficult for you

or search into things beyond your ability.

²²Focus instead on what God has given you,

for what is hidden is not your concern.

²³Don’t meddle in matters that are beyond you,

for even what you see is more than you can grasp.

²⁴For many have been deceived by their own reasoning,

and false assumptions have impaired their judgment.

²⁶A stubborn heart will come to a bad end,

and those who love danger will perish in it.

²⁷A stubborn heart will be weighed down with sorrows,

and the sinner heaps up sin upon sin.

²⁸There is no cure when disaster falls upon the proud,

for an evil plant has taken root in them.

²⁹Sensible people will reflect on proverbs,

and an attentive listener delights the wise teacher.

Kindness to the Poor

³⁰Just as water quenches a flaming fire,

helping the poor atones for sins.

³¹Those who repay favors are thinking ahead,

for they will be supported when they fall.