My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
Parallel translations
- WEB My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
- KJV My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
- NKJV My son, let them not depart from your eyes— Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
- NASB My son, see that they do not escape from your sight; Comply with sound wisdom and discretion,
- NLT My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The father urges his son to keep sound wisdom and discretion always in view. Wisdom must be guarded and held close, not let slip.
Overview
After praising wisdom's cosmic dignity, the teacher returns to personal exhortation: keep sound judgment and discretion ever before you. The repeated call to vigilance shows that wisdom, once received, must be retained by attention and discipline. This guarding of the heart and mind anticipates the New Testament's call to hold fast the word (Heb 2:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Josh 1:8This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.
- Deut 6:6–9These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Deut 32:46–47he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
- Prov 4:21Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.
- Heb 2:1–3We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Deut 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- 1 Jn 2:27And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
- John 8:31So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
- 1 Jn 2:24As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.
- Prov 3:1–3My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- John 15:6–7If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Prov 2:7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 3:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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