2 My child, listen to my teaching. Think about my commands. 2 Listen carefully, so that you understand what wisdom really is. 3 Yes, always try to learn what is right. Never stop trying to understand. 4 Look for wisdom as carefully as you would look for silver, or valuable jewels.
5 Then you will understand how to respect the Lord with fear. You will learn all about God. 6 It is the Lord who gives wisdom to people. He teaches us to understand things, so that we know what is true. 7 He helps good people to be wise in how they live. And he keeps honest people safe. 8 He protects the lives of righteous people. He takes care of people who serve him faithfully.
9 So learn from God. Then you will understand what is right, true and fair. You will know the best way to live. 10 You will become wise in your thoughts. Your knowledge of what is right will make you happy.
11 You will know the right thing to do, and that will keep you safe. 12 You will not join with wicked people. You will keep away from those who speak false things. 13 Those people no longer follow honest ways. They live in dark places. 14 They enjoy doing wicked and evil things. 15 They only do wrong things. They are always deceiving others.
16 If you have wisdom, you will not listen to the sweet words of a prostitute. A woman who likes to have sex with many men will not deceive you. 17 That kind of woman leaves her own husband. She married him when she was young. Now she forgets what she promised to God at the time of her marriage.
18 Do not go into her house! If you do, you will be on the road to death. If you follow her, you will arrive at the home of the spirits of dead people. 19 Anybody who visits her will never return. He will never find the way back to a good life.
20 If you have wisdom, you will enjoy life, as good people do. You will live as righteous people live. 21 Good and honest people will continue to live in our land. 22 But God will remove wicked people from the land. He will throw out all those who are not faithful.
2 My son, pay attention to what I say. Remember my commands. 2 Listen to wisdom, and do your best to understand. 3 Ask for good judgment. Cry out for understanding. 4 Look for wisdom like silver. Search for it like hidden treasure. 5 If you do this, you will understand what it means to respect the Lord , and you will come to know God.
6 The Lord is the source of wisdom; knowledge and understanding come from his mouth. 7 He gives good advice to honest people and shields those who do what is right. 8 He makes sure that people are treated fairly. He watches over his loyal followers.
9 If you listen to him, you will understand what is just and fair and how to do what is right. 10 You will gain wisdom, and knowledge will bring you joy.
11 Planning ahead will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 12 These will keep you from following the wrong path and will protect you from those who have evil plans. 13 Such people have left the straight path and now walk in darkness. 14 They enjoy doing evil and are happy with the confusion it brings. 15 Their ways are crooked; they lie and cheat.
16 Wisdom will save you from that other woman, another man’s wife, who tempts you with sweet words. 17 She married when she was young, but then she left her husband. She forgot the marriage vows she made before God. 18 Going into her house leads to death. She will lead you to the grave. 19 All who enter lose their life and never return.
20 Wisdom will help you follow the example of good people and stay on the right path. 21 Honest people will live in the land, and those who do right will remain there. 22 But the wicked will be forced to leave. Those who lie and cheat will be thrown out of the land.
2 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord , and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 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 perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
2 My son, if you will ( A ) receive my words
And ( B ) treasure my commandments within you,
2 ( C ) Make your ear attentive to wisdom;
Incline your heart to understanding.
3 For if you cry out for insight,
And [ a ] raise your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as ( D ) silver
And search for her as for ( E ) hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the ( F ) fear of the Lord ,
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For ( G ) the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a ( H ) shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He ( I ) watches over the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern ( J ) righteousness, justice,
And integrity, and every ( K ) good path.
10 For ( L ) wisdom will enter your heart,
And ( M ) knowledge will be delightful to your soul;
11 Discretion will ( N ) watch over you,
Understanding will guard you,
12 To ( O ) rescue you from the way of evil,
From a person who speaks ( P ) perverse things;
13 From those who ( Q ) leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ( R ) ways of darkness;
14 Who ( S ) delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are ( T ) crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
16 To ( U ) rescue you from the strange woman,
From the ( V ) foreign woman who flatters with her words,
17 Who leaves the ( W ) companion of her youth
And forgets the ( X ) covenant of her God;
18 For ( Y ) her house sinks down to death,
And her tracks lead to the [ b ] dead;
19 None ( Z ) who go to her return,
Nor do they reach the ( AA ) paths of life.
20 So you will ( AB ) walk in the way of good people
And keep to the ( AC ) paths of the righteous.
21 For ( AD ) the upright will live in the land,
And ( AE ) the blameless will remain in it;
22 But ( AF ) the wicked will be eliminated from the land,
And ( AG ) the treacherous will be ( AH ) torn away from it.
2 My son, ( A ) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding ( B ) —
3 indeed, if you call out for insight ( C )
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure, ( D )
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God. ( E )
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; ( F )
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ( G )
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield ( H ) to those whose walk is blameless, ( I )
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones. ( J )
9 Then you will understand ( K ) what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, ( L )
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you. ( M )
12 Wisdom will save ( N ) you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways, ( O )
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, ( P )
15 whose paths are crooked ( Q )
and who are devious in their ways. ( R )
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, ( S )
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. [ a ] ( T )
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead. ( U )
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life. ( V )
