Proverbs 2

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

[My] son, if you will receive the utterance of my commandment, and hide it with you;

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

your ear shall listen to wisdom; you shall also apply your heart to understanding, and shall apply it to the instruction of your son.

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

For it you shall call to wisdom, and utter your voice for understanding;

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

and if you shall seek it as silver, and search diligently for it as for treasures;

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

then shall you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

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

For the Lord gives wisdom; and from his presence [come] knowledge and understanding,

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

and he treasures up salvation for them that walk uprightly: he will protect their way;

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

that he may guard the righteous ways: and he will preserve the way of them that fear him.

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

Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgment; and shall direct all your course aright.

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

For if wisdom shall come into your understanding, and discernment shall seem pleasing to your soul,

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

good counsel shall guard you, and holy understanding shall keep you;

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

to deliver you from the evil way, and from the man that speaks nothing faithfully.

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

Alas [for those] who forsake right paths, to walk in ways of darkness;

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

who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness;

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

whose paths are crooked, and their courses winding;

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

to remove you far from the straight way, and to estrange you from a righteous purpose. [My] son, let not evil counsel overtake you,

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

[of her] who has forsaken the instruction of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of God.

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

For she has fixed her house near death, and [guided] her wheels near Hades with the giants.

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

None that go by her shall return, neither shall they take hold of right paths, for they are not apprehended of the years of life.

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

For had they gone in good paths, they would have found the paths of righteousness easy.

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

For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the holy shall be left behind in it.

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

The paths of the ungodly shall perish out of the earth, and transgressors shall be driven away from it.