# pay attention to my words

"listen carefully to what I teach you"

# you will have many years in your life

"you will live many years"

# I direct you in the way of wisdom; I lead you down straight paths

The writer speaks of teaching his son to live wisely as if he were leading his son along the paths where one may find wisdom. AT: "I am teaching you how to live wisely; I am explaining the right way to live" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# When you walk, no one will stand in your way and if you run, you will not stumble

These two lines share similar meanings. The writer speaks of the decisions and actions that a person makes as if that person were walking or running along a path and of the person being successful as if the path were free of obstacles that might make the person stumble. AT: "When you plan something, you will succeed in doing it" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/word]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/life]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/wise]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/walk]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/run]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/stumble]]