| 1 |
My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, |
| 2 |
So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; |
| 3 |
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, |
| 4 |
If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; |
| 5 |
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. |
| 6 |
For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; |
| 7 |
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; |
| 8 |
He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. |
| 9 |
Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. |
| 10 |
When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, |
| 11 |
Discretion will preserve you; |
| 12 |
To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, |
| 13 |
From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; |
| 14 |
Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; |
| 15 |
Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; |
| 16 |
To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, |
| 17 |
Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. |
| 18 |
For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; |
| 19 |
None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— |
| 20 |
So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. |
| 21 |
For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; |
| 22 |
But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. |
