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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Proverbs 4:10

Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Wisdom;   Young Men;   Thompson Chain Reference - Call, Divine;   God's;   Wisdom;   Wisdom-Folly;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Life, Natural;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Teacher;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - Life;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for February 4;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Listen, my son. Accept my words,and you will live many years.
Hebrew Names Version
Listen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.
King James Version
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
English Standard Version
Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
New Century Version
My child, listen and accept what I say. Then you will have a long life.
New English Translation
Listen, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many.
Amplified Bible
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.
New American Standard Bible
Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.
World English Bible
Listen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Heare, my sonne, & receiue my wordes, and the yeeres of thy life shalbe many.
Legacy Standard Bible
Hear, my son, and receive my sayingsAnd the years of your life will be many.
Berean Standard Bible
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
Contemporary English Version
My child, if you listen and obey my teachings, you will live a long time.
Complete Jewish Bible
Listen, my son, receive what I say, and the years of your life will be many.
Darby Translation
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be multiplied.
Easy-to-Read Version
Son, listen to me. Do what I say, and you will live a long time.
George Lamsa Translation
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of your life shall be many.
Lexham English Bible
Listen, my child, take my sayings, and the years of your life shall be great.
Literal Translation
Oh my son, hear and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be many.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Heare my sonne, and receaue my wordes, that the yeares of thy life maye be many.
American Standard Version
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of thy life shall be many.
Bible in Basic English
Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
King James Version (1611)
Heare, O my sonne, and receiue my sayings: and the yeeres of thy life shalbe many.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Heare my sonne, and receaue my wordes, and the yeres of thy life shalbe many.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Hear, my son, and receive my words; and the years of thy life shall be increased, that the resources of thy life may be many.
English Revised Version
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Mi sone, here thou, and take my wordis; that the yeris of lijf be multiplied to thee.
Update Bible Version
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of your life shall be many.
Webster's Bible Translation
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
New King James Version
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.
New Living Translation
My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.
New Life Bible
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many.
New Revised Standard
Hear, my child, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and they will multiply to thee the years of life.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee.
Revised Standard Version
Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
Young's Literal Translation
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And years of life [are] multiplied to thee.
THE MESSAGE
Dear friend, take my advice; it will add years to your life. I'm writing out clear directions to Wisdom Way, I'm drawing a map to Righteous Road. I don't want you ending up in blind alleys, or wasting time making wrong turns. Hold tight to good advice; don't relax your grip. Guard it well—your life is at stake! Don't take Wicked Bypass; don't so much as set foot on that road. Stay clear of it; give it a wide berth. Make a detour and be on your way.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings And the years of your life will be many.

Contextual Overview

1 My children, listen to what your father teaches you. Pay attention, and you will have understanding. 2 What I am teaching you is good, so remember it all. 3 When I was only a little boy, my parents' only son, 4 my father would teach me. He would say, "Remember what I say and never forget it. Do as I tell you, and you will live. 5 Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say. 6 Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe. 7 Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight. 8 Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will bring you honor. 9 She will be your crowning glory." 10 Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

my: Proverbs 8:10, Proverbs 19:20, Job 22:22, Jeremiah 9:20, John 3:32, John 3:33, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Timothy 1:15

the: Proverbs 3:2, Proverbs 3:16, Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 6:2

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 11:21 - your days Psalms 119:9 - shall Proverbs 4:22 - life Proverbs 23:19 - and guide Jeremiah 35:8 - General John 17:8 - received

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
The Lord God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it."
Genesis 4:9
The Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I don't know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?"
Genesis 4:10
Then the Lord said, "Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge.
Genesis 9:5
If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life.
Genesis 18:20
Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.
Exodus 3:7
Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings,
Numbers 35:33
If you did this, you would defile the land where you are living. Murder defiles the land, and except by the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where someone has been murdered.
Joshua 7:19
Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord , the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me."
2 Kings 9:26
‘I saw the murder of Naboth and his sons yesterday. And I promise that I will punish you here in this same field.' So take Joram's body," Jehu ordered his aide, "and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth, so as to fulfill the Lord 's promise."
Job 16:18
O Earth, don't hide the wrongs done to me! Don't let my call for justice be silenced!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings,.... Some think David is still speaking to his son Solomon, or Solomon continues relating what his father said to him; though I rather think these are Solomon's words to his son, to everyone of his children that came to him for instruction, or he took upon him to teach; whom he advises to listen to what he had further to say, and to embrace, and not reject, his doctrines;

and the years of thy life shall be many; see Proverbs 3:1; long life here, and length of days for ever and ever, or eternal life hereafter; which must be a very forcible argument to engage attention to his sayings.

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 4:10. The years of thy life shall be many. — Vice and intemperance impair the health and shorten the days of the wicked; while true religion, sobriety, and temperance, prolong them. The principal part of our diseases springs from "indolence, intemperance, and disorderly passions." Religion excites to industry, promotes sober habits, and destroys evil passions, and harmonizes the soul; and thus, by preventing many diseases, necessarily prolongs life.


 
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