Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou wouldst but accept my words, and treasure up my commandments with thee;

My son, if you would accept my words, and conceal my commandments within you,

2 To let thy ear listen unto wisdom: [if] thou wouldst incline thy heart to understanding.

so that your ears may listen to wisdom, then bend your heart in order to know prudence.

3 For if thou wilt call after intelligence; if after understanding thou wilt lift up thy voice;

For if you would call upon wisdom and bend your heart to prudence,

4 If thou wilt seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

if you will seek her like money, and dig for her as if for treasure,

5 Then wilt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and the knowledge of God wilt thou find.

then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth [come] knowledge and understanding.

For the Lord bestows wisdom, and out of his mouth, prudence and knowledge.

7 He treasureth up sound wisdom for the righteous, as a shield to those that walk in integrity:

He will preserve the salvation of the righteous, and he will protect those who walk in simplicity:

8 That men may keep the paths of justice; and the way of his pious servants doth he guard.

serving the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of sanctity.

9 Then wilt thou understand righteousness, and justice, and equity: yea, every track of goodness.

Then you shall understand justice and judgment, and equity, and every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter thy heart, and knowledge will be pleasant unto thy soul;

If wisdom is to enter into your heart, and if knowledge is to become pleasing to your soul,

11 Discretion will watch over thee, understanding will keep thee;

then counsel must guard you, and prudence must serve you,

12 To deliver thee from the way of the bad, from the man that speaketh perverse things;

so that you may be rescued from the evil way, and from the man who speaks perversities,

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

from those who leave the straight path to walk in dark ways,

14 Who rejoice to do evil, who are delighted in the perverseness of the bad;

who rejoice when they have done evil, and who exult in the most wicked things.

15 Who as regardeth their paths are crooked, and froward in their tracks.

Their ways are perverse, and their steps are infamous.

16 To deliver thee from the adulteress, from the alien woman that useth flattering speeches;

So may you be rescued from the foreign woman, and from the outsider, who softens her speech,

17 That forsaketh the friend of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

and who leaves behind the Guide of her youth,

18 For she sinketh unto death—her house, and unto the departed [lead] her tracks.

and who has forgotten the covenant of her God. For her household inclines toward death, and her paths toward Hell. (questioned)

19 All that come unto her return not again, and they will not reach the paths of life.

All those who enter to her will not return again, nor will they take hold of the paths of life.

20 In order that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and observe the paths of the righteous.

So may you walk in the good way, and keep to the difficult paths of the just.

21 For the upright will dwell on the earth, and the perfect will be left remaining on it.

For those who are upright shall live upon the earth, and the simple shall continue upon it.

22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the treacherous shall be plucked up therefrom.

Yet truly, the impious shall perish from the earth, and those who act unjustly shall be taken away from it.