Proverbs 2

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

Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee;

2 That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: Incline thy heart to know prudence:

That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding!

3 For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:

For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding, —

4 If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:

If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures,

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

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

6 Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.

For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:

7 He will keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity.

He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly:

8 Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.

He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants.

9 Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.

10 If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:

When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,

11 Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,

Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.

12 That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:

It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;

13 Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:

Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things:

Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

15 Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.

Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways.

16 That thou mayst be delivered from the strange women, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words:

It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words;

17 And forsaketh the guide of her youth,

Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18 And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell. (questioned)

For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:

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

None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life.

20 That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.

Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous:

21 For they that are upright shall dwell in the earth, and the simple shall continue in it.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;

22 But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly shall be taken away from it.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.