< Proverbs 2 >

1 My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;
My son, if thou wilt receive my sayings, and, my commandments, wilt treasure up by thee;
2 So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
So that thou direct, unto wisdom, thine ear, bend thy heart, unto understanding;
3 Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;
Yea if, for understanding, thou cry aloud, for knowledge, utter thy voice;
4 If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
If thou seek her as silver, and, like hid treasure, thou search for her,
5 then you will understand the fear of YHWH, and find the knowledge of God.
Then, shalt thou understand the reverence of Yahweh, and, the knowledge of God, shalt thou find.
6 For YHWH gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
For, Yahweh, giveth wisdom, out of his mouth, knowledge and understanding;
7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;
Yea he treasureth, for the upright, safety, A shield [is he] to them who walk in integrity,
8 that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his faithful ones.
To him that observeth the paths of justice, yea, the way of his men of lovingkindness, he doth guard.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.
Then, shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, and equity—every noble course.
10 For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
When wisdom entereth thy heart, and, knowledge, to thy soul, is sweet,
11 Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,
Discretion, shall watch over thee, understanding, shall preserve thee: —
12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;
To rescue thee from the way of the wrongful, from the man that speaketh perverse things;
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
From them who forsake the paths of rectitude, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;
Who rejoice to do wrong, exult in the perversities of the wrongful;
15 who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:
Whose paths, are twisted, and they are tortuous in their tracks:
16 To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
To rescue thee, from the woman that is a stranger, from the female unknown, who with her speeches seduceth;
17 who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:
Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, and, the covenant of her God, hath forgotten;
18 for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.
For she hath appointed, unto death, her house, and unto the shades, her courses;
19 None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:
None who go in unto her, come back, neither attain they unto the paths of life:
20 that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
To the end that thou walk in the way of good men, and, the paths of the righteous, that thou observe.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.
For, the upright, shall abide on the earth, —and, the men of integrity, shall remain therein;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be uprooted out of it.
But, the lawless, out of the earth, shall be cut off, and, traitors, shall they tear away therefrom.

< Proverbs 2 >