Father's Heart Bible™ (FHB)

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 · Father's Heart Bible™

Read Proverbs 22 ▶ Listen to Proverbs 22

What Proverbs 22:6 means

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.” It is one of the best-known verses on raising children, and it speaks to the long reach of what a child learns early.

Training is more than giving rules. It is shaping a young life on purpose, in a direction: “the way he should go.” The proverbs around it show what that way looks like. A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches (verse 1). “The reward for humility and the fear of our Father is riches and honor and life” (verse 4). Whoever guards his soul stays far from the snares in the path of the crooked (verse 5).

A proverb is a wise saying about how life usually goes, not a guarantee. Proverbs 22:6 gives parents real hope: early training goes deep and lasts. It does not say that a child who wanders proves the parents failed, and it does not take away the child’s own choices. It invites parents to do their part faithfully and to entrust their children to our Father, who made them and loves them.

Written by Spirit Media Publishing · Edited by Kevin White · Published November 6, 2026

Proverbs 22:6 in context

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

2 The rich and the poor meet together; our Father is the Maker of them all.

3 The prudent sees danger and takes cover, but the simple keep going and pay the price.

4 The reward for humility and the fear of our Father is riches and honor and life.

5 Thorns and snares lie in the path of the crooked; whoever guards his soul stays far from them.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.

7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Read all of Proverbs 22 →

Questions about Proverbs 22:6

What does Proverbs 22:6 say?

In Father's Heart Bible™, Proverbs 22:6 reads: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

What does Proverbs 22:6 mean?

Proverbs 22:6 means that a child trained early in the way he should go will carry that training into old age. It encourages parents to shape their children on purpose toward wisdom, humility and the fear of our Father, because what is learned early tends to last.

Is Proverbs 22:6 a promise?

It is a proverb, a wise saying about how life usually works, rather than an unconditional guarantee. It gives real hope that early training lasts, but it does not cancel a child’s own choices, and a child who wanders does not by itself prove the parents failed.

Proverbs 22 in other languages