Proverbs 4 (Verses 1–6)
King James Version
A father's instruction urging his children to get wisdom above all else.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
Like Proverbs 1-3, this chapter is framed as fatherly instruction, but here the father recalls his own childhood — "I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother" — before repeating the advice he was once given. That layering, instruction remembered and passed on again, is part of what the whole opening section of Proverbs is doing: showing wisdom transmitted across generations rather than invented fresh by each one.
Verse 6 contains one of the book's most quoted couplets — "Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee" — built on a tight if-then rhythm that repeats with small variation. Reading it aloud while copying helps a student notice how much of the passage's music comes from that repetition rather than from unusual vocabulary.
What to watch for
- 1 semicolon: a semicolon joins two complete thoughts that belong together, a pause longer than a comma but shorter than a period.
- 3 colons: a colon points ahead to what explains or completes the first half of the sentence.
- 1 apostrophe: sort each one into possession (the shepherd's staff) or a missing letter (don't = do not).
- Capital letters in the middle of a sentence: Let. Ask why each one is capitalized before typing it.
- Old-fashioned words: ye, unto, thine, thee. These are easy to "correct" by accident into modern spelling, so copy them exactly as written.
- Longest word: "understanding" (13 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 6 lines averaging about 15 words each. A comfortable line length for a single sitting.
Full text (reference)
1Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
3For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.