Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee,

[My] son, if thou wilt receive the utterance of my commandment, and hide it with thee;

2 so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom [and] thou apply thy heart to understanding;

thine ear shall hearken to wisdom; thou shalt also apply thine heart to understanding, and shalt apply it to the instruction of thy son.

3 yea, if thou criest after discernment [and] liftest up thy voice to understanding;

For it thou shalt call to wisdom, and utter thy voice for understanding;

4 if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures:

and if thou shalt seek it as silver, and search diligently for it as for treasures;

5 then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God.

then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth [come] knowledge and understanding.

For the Lord gives wisdom; and from his presence [come] knowledge and understanding,

7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; [he] is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

and he treasures up salvation for them that walk uprightly: he will protect their way;

8 guarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones.

that he may guard the righteous ways: and he will preserve the way of them that fear him.

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment; and shalt direct all thy course aright.

10 When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul,

For if wisdom shall come into thine understanding, and discernment shall seem pleasing to thy soul,

11 discretion shall keep thee, understanding shall preserve thee:

good counsel shall guard thee, and holy understanding shall keep thee;

12 To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the man that speaketh froward things;

to deliver thee from the evil way, and from the man that speaks nothing faithfully.

13 [from those] who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

Alas [for those] who forsake right paths, to walk in ways of darkness;

14 who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight in the frowardness of evil;

who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness;

15 whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course:

whose paths are crooked, and their courses winding;

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words;

to remove thee far from the straight way, and to estrange thee from a righteous purpose. [My] son, let not evil counsel overtake thee,

17 who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God;

[of her] who has forsaken the instruction of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of God.

18 — for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead;

For she has fixed her house near death, and [guided] her wheels near Hades with the giants.

19 none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

None that go by her shall return, neither shall they take hold of right paths, for they are not apprehended of the years of life.

20 — that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, and keep the paths of the righteous.

For had they gone in good paths, they would have found the paths of righteousness easy.

21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it;

For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the holy shall be left behind in it.

22 but the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it.

The paths of the ungodly shall perish out of the earth, and transgressors shall be driven away from it.