Proverbs 2

1 Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee;

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

2 That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline 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 For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding, —

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

4 If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search 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 the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

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

6 For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:

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

7 He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly:

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

8 He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants.

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 equity And uprightness, yea, 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 to thy soul,

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

11 Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.

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

12 It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;

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

13 Who forsake 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 in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness;

15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways.

whose paths are crooked, and their courses winding;

16 It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth 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 friend 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 sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:

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

19 None that go to her return again; They will not attain 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 Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, 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 righteous 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 transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

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