Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Hear as a son and become wise by taking charge of the heart and steering it into the right way. To guide the heart aright in this setting is to guard appetite and live temperately, making self-control the practical proof of wisdom. The wider warning places drunkards, gluttons, and the indolent side by side as kindred forms of excess and undisciplined indulgence. Such excess is shown to end in poverty and deprivation, so that intemperance wastes both character and livelihood.
Hear as a son and become wise by taking charge of the heart and steering it into the right way. To guide the heart aright in this setting is to guard appetite and live temperately, making self-control the practical proof of wisdom. The wider warning places drunkards, gluttons, and the indolent side by side as kindred forms of excess and undisciplined indulgence. Such excess is shown to end in poverty and deprivation, so that intemperance wastes both character and livelihood.