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 my words, and lay up my commandments with thee;

2 That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding!

So that thou make thine ear attend unto wisdom, and thy heart incline to discernment;

3 For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding, —

Yea, if thou call for understanding, and lift up thy voice for discernment;

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

If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid 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 giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and discernment;

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

He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

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

That He may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of His godly ones.

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, and equity, yea, every good path.

10 When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,

For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;

11 Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.

Discretion shall watch over thee, discernment shall guard thee;

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

To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak froward things;

13 Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;

Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

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

Who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths;

16 It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words;

To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words;

17 Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God.

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

18 For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:

For her house sinketh down unto death, and her paths unto the shades;

19 None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life.

None that go unto her return, neither do they attain unto the paths of life;

20 Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous:

That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the whole-hearted shall remain in it.

22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the faithless shall be plucked up out of it.