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Amplified Bible

Proverbs 4:20

My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn; Open your ears to my sayings.

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.
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.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
My sonne marke my wordes, and encline thyne eare vnto my sayinges:
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

20My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn; Open your ears to my sayings.21Do not let them escape from your sight; Keep them in the center of your heart. 22For they are life to those who find them, And healing and health to all their flesh. 23Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. 24Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth, And put devious lips far from you. 25Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity]. 26Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet, And all your ways will be steadfast and sure. 27Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk]; Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.

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 [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground.
Genesis 4:4
But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. And the LORD had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering;
Genesis 4:5
but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and he looked annoyed and hostile.
Genesis 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he [lied and] said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
Genesis 4:10
The LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice].
Genesis 4:11
"And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's [shed] blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:12
"When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast]."
Genesis 4:21
His brother's name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute.
Genesis 25:27
When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents.
John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.

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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