Duties to parents

¹Listen to a father’s warning, children,

and act accordingly

so that you may be safe.

²The Lord gives pride of place

to a father above his children

and establishes a mother’s judgment

above that of her offspring.

³Those who honor their fathers

will make up for their own sins,

⁴and those who praise their mother

are like people storing up treasure.

⁵Those who honor their fathers

will be made happy

by their own children,

and they will be heard when they pray.

⁶Those who praise their fathers

will live a long life,

and those who listen to the Lord

will give rest to their mothers,

⁷and they will serve their parents

as their masters.

⁸Honor your father in action and word

so that a blessing will come

from him to you,

⁹since a father’s blessing

supports his children’s families,

but a mother’s curse

undermines their foundations.

¹⁰Don’t glorify yourself

in your father’s disgrace,

because your father’s disgrace

brings you no credit.

¹¹A father’s honor is the starting point

for his children’s reputation,

and a mother in disrepute

is a disgrace to her children.

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

and don’t give him grief during his life.

¹³And if his understanding fails,

be tolerant,

and don’t shame him,

because you have all your faculties.

¹⁴Taking care of one’s father

won’t be forgotten.

It will be credited to you

against your sins.

¹⁵When you are in trouble,

this will be recalled about you;

like frost warmed by sunshine,

so your sins will melt away.

¹⁶Those who abandon their fathers

are like blasphemers,

and those who anger their mothers

have been cursed by the Lord.

Humility and charity

¹⁷My child, conduct your affairs

with gentleness,

and you will be loved

more than a person of good repute.

¹⁸However great you become,

humble yourself more,

and you will find favor before the Lord,

²⁰because the Lord’s power is great,

and he is glorified by the humble.

²¹Don’t seek out things

that are too difficult for you,

and don’t investigate matters

too perplexing for you.

²²Think about what

you have been commanded,

because you have no need

for matters that are hidden.

²³Don’t meddle in things

beyond your own affairs

since you have already been shown things beyond human understanding.

²⁴Speculation has led many people astray,

and false conjectures have

weakened their thoughts.

²⁶A stubborn heart will come to misery,

and whoever loves danger

will be destroyed by it.

²⁷A stubborn heart will be weighed down

by suffering,

and the sinner will keep on sinning.

²⁸There’s no healing for the distress

of arrogant people,

because an evil plant

has taken root in them.

²⁹The hearts of intelligent people

will think about a proverb,

and the wise desire people

who are ready to listen.

³⁰Water will put out a blazing fire,

and giving to those in need

will make up for sins.

³¹Those who repay favors

consider the future,

and at the moment when they fall,

they will find support.