< Proverbs 2 >
1 My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
make your ears pay attention to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding.
3 if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,
If you cry out for understanding and raise your voice for it,
4 if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,
if you seek it like you would seek silver and search for understanding as you would seek hidden treasures,
5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
then you will understand the fear of Yahweh and you will find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
For Yahweh gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
He stores up sound wisdom for those who please him, he is a shield for those who walk in integrity,
8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
he guards the paths of justice and he will preserve the way of those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.
Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and equity, and every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.
For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,
Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you.
12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
They will rescue you from the way of evil, from those who speak perverse things,
13 from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
who abandon the right paths and walk in the ways of darkness.
14 from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
They rejoice when they do evil and delight in the perversities of evil.
15 whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
They follow crooked paths, and using deception they hide their tracks.
16 It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Wisdom and discretion will save you from an adulterous woman, from an immoral woman and her flattering words.
17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
She forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
For her house leads down to death and her tracks will lead you to those in the grave.
19 None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
All who go in to her will not return again and they will not find the paths of life.
20 So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.
So you will walk in the way of good people and follow the paths of righteous people.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
For those doing right will make a home in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.
But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the faithless will be cut off from it.