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; Understanding will keep 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. |