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

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

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

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

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

6 F or the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

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

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

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

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

11 d iscretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

12 t o deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

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

14 w ho rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

15 w hose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

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

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

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

19 N one that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

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

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

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