Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Train children not in the way their corrupt hearts would have them go, but in the way they should go, as soldiers learning their drill, with discipline and gentle teaching suited to their tender years. Good impressions made then ordinarily abide all their days, like a vessel that keeps the flavor with which it was first seasoned.
AI summary
Instruction must fit the child's capacity, little by little as his mouth can receive it, from infancy onward, teaching him duty to God and man, setting him a holy example. Where there is good education, those impressions do not easily wear away; and when grace seasons his heart, he practices in adulthood what he learned in theory, and continues in truth and holiness.
AI summary
Train--initiate, or early instruct. the way--literally, "his way," that selected for him in which he should go; for early training secures habitual walking in it.