Ask God to lead you
1My child, don't forget what I teach you.
Remember everything that I tell you,
2and then you will have a good and long life
and all will be well with you.
3You must always do
what you have promised.
Keep your promises and don't change them.
This you must remember all your life,
and you must never forget it.
4Then God and people
will be pleased with you.
5Trust in God and believe
with all your heart
that He will always help you.
Don't think that you know everything.
6Ask God to help you
in everything that you do.
He will always be with you and lead you.
7Do not think you have
all the wisdom there is.
Fear the Lord and
turn away from sin and wrong.
8Then your body will be healthy
and your bones will be strong.
9Serve the Lord with your money
and everything that you have.
Give Him the best of everything
and the first of your fruit.
10Then you will have a lot.
Your store rooms will be full
and you will have a lot of wine.
11My child, the things
that the Lord wants to teach you
must be important to you.
Do not rebel when He punishes you.
12Because the Lord punishes
the people that He loves
like a father punishes the child that he loves.
Wisdom is precious
13People who find wisdom
and learn to understand the important things
will always be happy,
14because to get wisdom
is better than to get silver and gold.
15Wisdom is more precious than jewels,
and there is nothing as precious as wisdom.
16Someone who is wise
will have a long and happy life.
People will respect you
and you will not be poor.
17Someone who has wisdom
enjoys life and will always have peace.
18Wisdom is like a tree_of_life.
If you hold onto wisdom and you use it,
you are holding onto a tree of life
and God will bless you.
19The Lord used wisdom
and understanding
when He made heaven and earth.
20He knew what He was doing
when He made water
come out of fountains
and rain come out of the clouds.
You must live with true wisdom
21My child, you must hold on
to true wisdom and use it.
You must always be wise and you must not lose it.
22Wisdom will make your life beautiful,
like an expensive necklace around your neck.
23If you are wise,
the way that you are going will be safe,
and you will not get hurt on your way.
24You won't be afraid to go to sleep.
You will lie down and you will sleep peacefully.
25You won't be afraid of trouble
that could come suddenly
or fear storms that ruin sinful people,
26because the Lord will be with you.
He will protect you so that you
don't walk into a trap.
27If there is someone that
needs your help and you can help him,
do it, and don't wait.
28If you can help someone, do it immediately.
Don't say: ‘Come back later.
I will help you tomorrow.’
29If someone trusts you
and feels safe with you,
don't make plans
to do something wrong to him.
30If someone is innocent
and he has done nothing bad to you,
don't accuse him and say that he is guilty.
31Don't be jealous
of cruel people who like to fight
and don't try to be like them
32because the Lord hates bad
and sinful people,
but He loves people who live in the right way.
They are his friends.
33The Lord curses the family
of someone who does wrong,
but He blesses the family of someone
who is righteous and lives in the right way.
34The Lord laughs at people
who try to mock Him,
but He gives his grace to those
who are humble and can not help themselves.
35People respect someone who has wisdom,
but they are ashamed of a fool.
