Proverbs 2
1 My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,
Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee;
2 To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,
That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding!
3 For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,
For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding, —
4 If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,
If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures,
5 Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.
6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.
For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:
7 Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.
He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly:
8 To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.
He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants.
9 Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness — every good path.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.
10 For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,
When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,
11 Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,
Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.
12 To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,
It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;
13 Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,
Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,
Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;
15 Whose paths [are] crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.
Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,
It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words;
17 Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.
Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.
For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:
19 None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.
None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life.
20 That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.
Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous:
21 For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,
For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;
22 And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!
But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
