Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,
2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,
3 if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,
For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,
4 if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,
If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,
5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.
8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.
Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness — every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.
For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,
11 Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,
Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,
12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,
13 from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,
14 from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,
15 whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
Whose paths [are] crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.
16 It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,
17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.
18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.
19 None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach 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 dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.
And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!
