Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, June 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 8 / Ordinary 13
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Read the Bible

Bishop's Bible

Proverbs 4:20

My sonne marke my wordes, and encline thyne eare vnto my sayinges:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Wisdom;   Young Men;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Flesh;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for February 4;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
My son, pay attention to my words;listen closely to my sayings.
Hebrew Names Version
My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.
King James Version
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
English Standard Version
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
New Century Version
My child, pay attention to my words; listen closely to what I say.
New English Translation
My child, pay attention to my words; listen attentively to my sayings.
Amplified Bible
My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn; Open your ears to my sayings.
New American Standard Bible
My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
World English Bible
My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.
Geneva Bible (1587)
My sonne, hearken vnto my wordes, incline thine eare vnto my sayings.
Legacy Standard Bible
My son, pay attention to my words;Incline your ear to my sayings.
Berean Standard Bible
My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Contemporary English Version
My child, listen carefully to everything I say.
Complete Jewish Bible
My son, pay attention to what I am saying; incline your ear to my words.
Darby Translation
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Easy-to-Read Version
My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words.
George Lamsa Translation
My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Good News Translation
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen to my words.
Lexham English Bible
My child, be attentive to my words; to my sayings incline your ear.
Literal Translation
My son, pay attention to my words; stretch your ear to what I say;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
My sonne, marcke my wordes, and enclyne thine eare vnto my saynges.
American Standard Version
My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Bible in Basic English
My son, give attention to my words; let your ear be turned to my sayings.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
King James Version (1611)
My sonne, attend to my words, incline thine eare vnto my sayings.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
My son, attend to my speech; and apply thine ear to my words:
English Revised Version
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Mi sone, herkene thou my wordis; and bowe doun thin eeris to my spechis.
Update Bible Version
My son, attend to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
Webster's Bible Translation
My son, attend to my words; incline thy ear to my sayings.
New King James Version
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
New Living Translation
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
New Life Bible
My son, listen to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.
New Revised Standard
My child, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
My son, to my words, attend, to my sayings, incline thou thine ear;
Douay-Rheims Bible
My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my sayings.
Revised Standard Version
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Young's Literal Translation
My son, to my words give attention, To my sayings incline thine ear,
THE MESSAGE
Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice. Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart! Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they're bursting with health.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

Contextual Overview

20 My sonne marke my wordes, and encline thyne eare vnto my sayinges: 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes, but kepe them euen in the middest of thyne heart: 22 For they are life vnto those that finde them, and health vnto all their bodyes. 23 Kepe thyne heart with all diligence, for out of it issueth lyfe. 24 Put away from thee a frowarde mouth, and let the lippes of slaunder be farre from thee. 25 Let thyne eyes beholde that thyng that is right, and let thyne eye liddes loke straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feete, and let all thy wayes be ordred aright. 27 Turne not aside, neither to the right hande nor to the left: but wihholde thy foote from euyll.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 5:1, Proverbs 6:20, Proverbs 6:21, Proverbs 7:1, Psalms 78:1, Psalms 90:12, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 17:5

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 4:9 - keep thy soul Proverbs 2:1 - hide Proverbs 8:6 - for Proverbs 13:1 - wise Hebrews 2:1 - the more

Cross-References

Genesis 4:2
And she proceading, brought foorth his brother Habel, and Habel was a keper of sheepe, but Cain was a tyller of the grounde.
Genesis 4:4
Habel also brought of the firstlynges of his sheepe, & of the fatte thereof: and the Lorde had respect vnto Habel, and to his oblation.
Genesis 4:5
But vnto Cain and to his offeryng he had no respect: for the whiche cause Cain was exceedyng wroth, and his countenaunce abated.
Genesis 4:9
And the Lorde said vnto Cain: where is Habel thy brother? Which sayde I wote not: Am I my brothers keper?
Genesis 4:10
And he sayde: What hast thou done? the voyce of thy brothers blood cryeth vnto me out of the grounde.
Genesis 4:11
And nowe art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receaue thy brothers blood from thy hande.
Genesis 4:12
If thou tyll the grounde, she shall not yeelde vnto thee her strength. A fugitiue and a vacabound shalt thou be in the earth.
Genesis 4:21
His brothers name was Iubal, which was the father of such as handle Harpe and Organ.
Genesis 25:27
And the boyes grewe, and Esau became a cunnyng hunter, and a wylde man: but Iacob was a perfect man, and dwelled in tentes.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the deuyll, and the lustes of your father wyll ye do. He was a murtherer from the begynnyng, and abode not in the trueth: because there is no trueth in hym. When he speaketh a lye, he speaketh of his owne: For he is a lyer, and the father of the same thyng.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

My son, attend to my words,.... Which go before and which follow after, his doctrines, instructions, cautions, and exhortations;

incline thine ear unto my sayings; stoop and bow the ear; listen attentively to what is said, as being of the greatest moment and importance.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The counsel which has come to him, in substance, from his father. Compare it with 2 Samuel 23:2 etc.; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 29:17; Psalms 15:1-5; Psalms 24:1-10; Psalms 37:0.

Proverbs 4:7

Or, “The beginning of wisdom is - get wisdom.” To seek is to find, to desire is to obtain.

Proverbs 4:12

The ever-recurring parable of the journey of life. In the way of wisdom the path is clear and open, obstacles disappear; in the quickest activity (“when thou runnest”) there is no risk of falling.

Proverbs 4:13

She is thy life - Another parallel between personified Wisdom in this book and the Incarnate Wisdom in John 1:4.

Proverbs 4:16

A fearful stage of debasement. Sin is the condition without which there can be no repose.

Proverbs 4:17

i. e., Bread and wine gained by unjust deeds. Compare Amos 2:8. A less probable interpretation is, “They eat wickedness as bread, and drink violence as wine.” Compare Job 15:16; Job 34:7.

Proverbs 4:18

Shining ... shineth - The two Hebrew words are different; the first having the sense of bright or clear. The beauty of a cloudless sunshine growing on, shining as it goes, to the full and perfect day, is chosen as the fittest figure of the ever increasing brightness of the good man’s life. Compare the marginal reference.

Proverbs 4:19

Compare our Lord’s teaching John 11:10; John 12:35.

Proverbs 4:20

The teacher speaks again in his own person.


 
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