Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you,

Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee;

2 so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding!

3 yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding, —

4 if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;

If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:

7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly:

8 that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.

He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants.

9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,

11 Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.

12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things,

It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;

13 who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,

Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil,

Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

15 who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,

Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways.

16 to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,

It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words;

17 who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God;

Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18 for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.

For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:

19 None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.

None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life.

20 Therefore walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous:

21 For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;

22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.