Proverbs 2
1 My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,
make your ears pay attention to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding.
3 For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,
If you cry out for understanding and raise your voice for it,
4 If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,
if you seek it like you would seek silver and search for understanding as you would seek hidden treasures,
5 Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.
then you will understand the fear of Yahweh and you will find the knowledge of God.
6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.
For Yahweh gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.
He stores up sound wisdom for those who please him, he is a shield for those who walk in integrity,
8 To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.
he guards the paths of justice and he will preserve the way of those who are faithful to him.
9 Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness — every good path.
Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and equity, and every good path.
10 For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,
For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,
Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you.
12 To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,
They will rescue you from the way of evil, from those who speak perverse things,
13 Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,
who abandon the right paths and walk in the ways of darkness.
14 Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,
They rejoice when they do evil and delight in the perversities of evil.
15 Whose paths [are] crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.
They follow crooked paths, and using deception they hide their tracks.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,
Wisdom and discretion will save you from an adulterous woman, from an immoral woman and her flattering words.
17 Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.
She forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.
For her house leads down to death and her tracks will lead you to those in the grave.
19 None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.
All who go in to her will not return again and they will not find the paths of life.
20 That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.
So you will walk in the way of good people and follow the paths of righteous people.
21 For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,
For those doing right will make a home in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!
But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the faithless will be cut off from it.
