1 Children, listen to a father’s instruction {musar: disciplined guidance}, and be attentive so that you may come to know understanding {binah: discernment}.
2 For I give you good instruction {leqach: beneficial teaching}; do not abandon my teaching {torati: guiding principle}.
3 For I was a son {ben: filial standing} to my father, tender {rakh: gentle, inexperienced} and the only one cherished in the sight of my mother.
4 He instructed me and said to me, “Let your heart {libecha: inner self} hold fast to my words; keep my commandments {mitzvotai: binding instructions} and live.”
5 Acquire wisdom{chokhmah: practical insight}, and acquire understanding; do not forget, and do not drift away from the words{imrei: spoken teachings} from my mouth.
6 Do not abandon {azav: abandon completely} her, and she will keep {shamar: watch over} you; love her, and she will guard you.
7 At wisdom’s inception {reshit: starting point}, get wisdom; and with all your acquiring {kinyan: what you possess}, get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you; she will honor you {tekabbedkha: to show high regard} when you embrace her {tehabbeqenna: to clasp closely, express deep affection}.
9 She will give a garland {livyat-khen: favor wreath} of grace to your head and bestow on you a crown of glory {tif’eret: beauty and majesty}.
10 Listen, my son {beni: filial affection}, and receive my sayings, and the years {shnot: extended duration} of your life will be many.
11 I have instructed {horetikha: skillfully taught} you in the way of wisdom, and I have led you in paths of uprightness {yosher: moral straightness}.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered{yetsar: tightly restricted}; and if you run, you will not stumble{tikashel: falter or fall}.
13 Grasp instruction firmly {musar: moral discipline}; do not let her go. Guard her, for she is your life {chayim: sustaining vitality}.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked {resha’im: opposed to righteousness}, and do not proceed in the way of evildoers {ra’im: practicing harm}.
15 Avoid {pera’ehu: keep far off} it; do not pass by it. Turn aside {shteh: deviate intentionally} from it, and pass on.
16 They do not sleep unless they do evil, and their sleep is stolen {nigzlah: forcibly taken} unless they cause someone to stumble {yakshilu: trip or ensnare}.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness {resha: moral corruption}, and drink the wine of violence {hamasim: acts of injustice}.
18 But the path of the righteous {tsaddiqim: those whose actions are upright} is like the light of dawn, shining brighter until full daylight {nekhon: firmly established}.
19 The way of the wicked {resha'im: morally corrupt} is like deep darkness {ka'afelah: impenetrable gloom}; they do not know what causes them to stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to my words {davar: message}; incline your ear to my sayings {laamarai: instructional utterances}.
21 Do not allow them to escape your gaze {me’einekha: outward focus}; preserve them in your heart {levav: inner being}.
22 For they bring life {chayyim: vitality} to those who find them, and provide healing to all their flesh {besar: physical body}.
23 Guard your heart more than any safeguarding {mishmar: watchful protection}, for from it come the sources of life {chayyim: vitality, existence}.
24 Remove from yourself the crookedness {iqqeshut: moral twisting} of mouth, and let the perversion {ulezut: intentional corruption} of lips be far from you.
25 Let your eyes look ahead {lenokhach: purposefully directed}, and let your eyelids {ap’apayim: dual focus mechanism} look straight before you.
26 Make the path {ma‘gal: intended route} of your feet level, and all your ways will be established {yikkonu: firmly set}.
27 Do not turn to the right or to the left {smol: left side}; remove your foot from evil {ra: moral harm}.