For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.
Parallel translations
- WEB for I give you sound learning. Don’t forsake my law.
- KJV For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
- NKJV For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.
- NASB For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.
- NLT for I am giving you good guidance. Don’t turn away from my instructions.
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 gives sound teaching and pleads that it not be forsaken. His instruction is trustworthy and life-giving.
Overview
The teacher commends his own teaching as 'good doctrine' (sound learning) and urges that his 'torah' (instruction) not be abandoned. The appeal underscores that wisdom is not optional advice but a reliable guide to be retained. As all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable (2 Tim 3:16), such teaching is to be held fast.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Tim 4:6By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.
- Deut 32:2Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
- Titus 1:9He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.
- Job 33:3My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
- Ps 89:30–32If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
- Prov 8:6–9Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.
- John 7:16–17“My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me.
- 2 Chr 7:19But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
- 1 Chr 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
- Job 11:4You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’
- Ps 49:1–3For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,
- Prov 22:20–21Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 4:2 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.