Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,

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

2 To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,

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

3 For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,

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

4 If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,

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

5 Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.

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

6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.

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

7 Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.

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

8 To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.

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

9 Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness — every good path.

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

10 For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,

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

11 Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,

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

12 To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,

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

13 Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,

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

14 Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,

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

15 Whose paths [are] crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.

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

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,

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

17 Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.

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

18 For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.

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

19 None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

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

20 That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.

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 do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,

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

22 And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!

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