Proverbs 2
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee,
My son, if thou will receive my words, and lay up my commandments with thee,
2 That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: Incline thy heart to know prudence:
so as to incline thine ear to wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding,
3 For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:
yea, if thou cry after discernment, and lift up thy voice for understanding,
4 If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:
if thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures,
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God.
then thou shall understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God.
6 Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.
For Jehovah gives wisdom. Out of his mouth is knowledge and understanding.
7 He will keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity.
He lays up sound wisdom for the upright, a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.
that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his sanctified.
9 Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.
Then thou shall understand righteousness and justice and equity, yea, every good path.
10 If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:
For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant to thy soul,
11 Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,
discretion shall watch over thee, understanding shall keep thee,
12 That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:
to deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things,
13 Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:
who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things:
who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.
who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,
16 That thou mayst be delivered from the strange women, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words:
to deliver thee from the interloping woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words,
17 And forsaketh the guide of her youth,
who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God
18 And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell. (questioned)
(for her house inclines to death, and her paths to the dead;
19 None that go in unto her shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life,
none who go to her return again, nor do they attain to the paths of life),
20 That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.
that thou may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For they that are upright shall dwell in the earth, and the simple shall continue in it.
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly shall be taken away from it.
But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.
