Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you accept what I say and value my instructions,
[My] son, if you will receive the utterance of my commandment, and hide it with you;
2 if you pay attention to wisdom and really try to understand;
your ear shall listen to wisdom; you shall also apply your heart to understanding, and shall apply it to the instruction of your son.
3 if you cry out for insight and call loudly for help in understanding;
For it you shall call to wisdom, and utter your voice for understanding;
4 if you look for it as if it were silver and search for it as if it were hidden treasure;
and if you shall seek it as silver, and search diligently for it as for treasures;
5 then you will understand how to relate to the Lord and discover the truth about God.
then shall you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
6 The Lord is the source of wisdom; what he says provides knowledge that makes sense.
For the Lord gives wisdom; and from his presence [come] knowledge and understanding,
7 He gives good judgment to those who live right; he defends those who have good sense.
and he treasures up salvation for them that walk uprightly: he will protect their way;
8 He supports those who act fairly and protects those who trust in him.
that he may guard the righteous ways: and he will preserve the way of them that fear him.
9 Then you will be able to recognize what is right and just and fair, in fact all that is good in the way you should live.
Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgement; and shall direct all your course aright.
10 For wisdom will fill your mind, and knowledge will make you happy.
For if wisdom shall come into your understanding, and discernment shall seem pleasing to your soul,
11 Good decisions will keep you on track; thinking logically will keep you safe.
good counsel shall guard you, and holy understanding shall keep you;
12 Doing this will save you from the ways of evil, from men who tell twisted lies,
to deliver you from the evil way, and from the man that speaks nothing faithfully.
13 who turn away from following what is right to walk down paths of darkness.
Alas [for those] who forsake right paths, to walk in ways of darkness;
14 They happily do wrong; they love how twisted evil is.
who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness;
15 They live crooked lives doing deceitful things.
whose paths are crooked, and their courses winding;
16 Doing this will also save you from a woman who acts immorally, from a woman who like a prostitute tries to seduce you with flattering words.
to remove you far from the straight way, and to estrange you from a righteous purpose. [My] son, let not evil counsel overtake you,
17 Such a woman has left her husband she married when she was young, forgetting the promises she made before God.
[of her] who has forsaken the instruction of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of God.
18 What happens in her house leads to death; following her way leads to the grave.
For she has fixed her house near death, and [guided] her wheels near Hades with the giants.
19 No one who goes to her comes back; they don't ever find the way back to life again.
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 So you should follow the way of the good, and make sure you stay on the paths of those who do right.
For had they gone in good paths, they would have found the paths of righteousness easy.
21 For only people who live right will live in the land; only honest people will remain there.
For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the holy shall be left behind in it.
22 But the wicked will be thrown out of the land; those who are untrustworthy will be pulled out by the roots.
The paths of the ungodly shall perish out of the earth, and transgressors shall be driven away from it.
