My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
"Warning Against Adultery" is a section heading added by NIV translators to organize the text — it is not part of the original verse. The verse itself opens a longer passage in Proverbs where a parent urges a child to hold onto the wisdom taught at home. Proverbs is structured as a father speaking to a son, and this verse specifically honors both parents as sources of teaching worth keeping. In ancient Israelite culture, parents were the primary transmitters of wisdom, faith, and moral formation — there were no schools or institutions filling that role for most families. The commands to "keep" and "not forsake" imply that wisdom requires active effort to maintain; it can be held onto or let go, and the choice belongs to the one who received it.
Father, thank you for the people who poured wisdom into me before I knew how to ask for it. Help me not to take that lightly or lose it through carelessness. Give me the humility to revisit what I was taught, and the discernment to hold onto what is true and good. Amen.
At some point, most of us go through a season of quietly — or loudly — stepping away from what we were taught at home. Sometimes that distance is necessary. Some of what we inherited needed to be examined, questioned, maybe even set down. But there is a difference between thoughtfully refining what you were given and simply abandoning it because independence felt good, or because you got busy, or because you just stopped carrying it one day and never picked it back up. Proverbs does not tell the son to follow his parents without thinking. It tells him not to forsake their teaching — which implies he has thought about it and chosen to keep it. Think about the wisdom you received early — from a parent, a grandparent, a Sunday school teacher, a mentor who believed in you before you knew what to do with that. Some of it probably made no sense at fifteen. Some of it you walked away from and eventually found your way back to. And some of it, if you are honest, you set down not because you examined it and found it wanting, but simply because life got loud. This verse is a quiet tap on the shoulder: go back. See if there is something you left behind that still belongs to you.
What does it mean, practically, to "keep" a teaching rather than just knowing it intellectually? What does that active keeping look like in daily life?
What is a piece of wisdom passed down to you — from a parent, grandparent, or early mentor — that took years before you fully understood or appreciated it?
Is there wisdom from your upbringing that you have walked away from? Looking back, was that distance the result of genuine reflection, or mostly neglect?
Can honoring the teachings of your parents ever come into tension with your own growing relationship with God? How have you navigated that tension, or how might you?
What is one thing you were taught early in life about faith or character that you want to re-engage with this week — something worth picking back up and carrying again?
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Proverbs 4:20
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:20
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Proverbs 1:8
The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
Proverbs 31:1
BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psalms 119:9
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Genesis 18:19
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Ephesians 6:1
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 11:18
My son, be guided by your father's [God-given] commandment (instruction) And do not reject the teaching of your mother;
AMP
My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
ESV
My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
NASB
Warning Against Adultery My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
NIV
My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
NKJV
My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
NLT
Good friend, follow your father's good advice; don't wander off from your mother's teachings.
MSG