Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and lay up my commandments with thee;

2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

So that thou make thine ear attend unto wisdom, and thy heart incline to discernment;

3 if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

Yea, if thou call for understanding, and lift up thy voice for discernment;

4 if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,

If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures;

5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover 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; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

For the LORD giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and discernment;

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.

That He may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of His godly ones.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.

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

10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.

For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;

11 Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,

Discretion shall watch over thee, discernment shall guard thee;

12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,

To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak froward things;

13 from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,

Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14 from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,

Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

15 whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.

Who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths;

16 It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words;

17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.

That forsaketh the lord of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.

For her house sinketh down unto death, and her paths unto the shades;

19 None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

None that go unto her return, neither do they attain unto the paths of life;

20 So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.

That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the whole-hearted shall remain in it.

22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the faithless shall be plucked up out of it.