Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

My son, if thou wilt receive my sayings, and, my commandments, wilt treasure up by thee;

2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

So that thou direct, unto wisdom, thine ear, bend thy heart, unto understanding;

3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

Yea if, for understanding, thou cry aloud, for knowledge, utter thy voice;

4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

If thou seek her as silver, and, like hid treasure, thou search for her,

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of Yhwh, and find the knowledge of God.

Then, shalt thou understand the reverence of Yahweh, and, the knowledge of God, shalt thou find.

6 For Yhwh giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

For, Yahweh, giveth wisdom, out of his mouth, knowledge and understanding;

7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

Yea he treasureth, for the upright, safety, A shield [is he] to them who walk in integrity,

8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

To him that observeth the paths of justice, yea, the way of his men of lovingkindness, he doth guard.

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

Then, shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, and equity—every noble course.

10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

When wisdom entereth thy heart, and, knowledge, to thy soul, is sweet,

11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Discretion, shall watch over thee, understanding, shall preserve thee: —

12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh perverse things;

To rescue thee from the way of the wrongful, from the man that speaketh perverse things;

13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

From them who forsake the paths of rectitude, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

Who rejoice to do wrong, exult in the perversities of the wrongful;

15 Whose ways are crooked, and they perverted in their paths:

Whose paths, are twisted, and they are tortuous in their tracks:

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

To rescue thee, from the woman that is a stranger, from the female unknown, who with her speeches seduceth;

17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, and, the covenant of her God, hath forgotten;

18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

For she hath appointed, unto death, her house, and unto the shades, her courses;

19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

None who go in unto her, come back, neither attain they unto the paths of life:

20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

To the end that thou walk in the way of good men, and, the paths of the righteous, that thou observe.

21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

For, the upright, shall abide on the earth, —and, the men of integrity, shall remain therein;

22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

But, the lawless, out of the earth, shall be cut off, and, traitors, shall they tear away therefrom.