Proverbs 4:21 (WEB)

Passage

Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the center of your heart.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.

Proverbs 4:20 My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.

Proverbs 4:21 Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the center of your heart.

Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "depart", "eyes", "keep", "center", and "heart". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "depart" and "eyes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "My son attend to my words Turn..." into verse 22's "For they are life to those who...", so "depart" and "eyes" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "depart" and "eyes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.