23:12 Apply 1 your heart to instruction
and your ears to the words of knowledge.
23:26 Give me your heart, my son, 2
and let your eyes observe my ways;
1 tn Heb “bring.” The Hiphil imperative “come; enter” means “to apply the heart,” to use the heart or mind in the process. The same would be true in the second half: “to bring the ears” would mean to listen very carefully. Cf. TEV “Pay attention.”
2 tn Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.