1 M y son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee,

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

3 y ea, if thou criest after discernment liftest up thy voice to understanding;

4 i f thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures:

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

6 F or Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth knowledge and understanding.

7 H e layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

8 g uarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones.

9 T hen shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path.

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

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

12 T o deliver thee from the way of evil, 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, delight in the frowardness of evil;

15 w hose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course:

16 T o deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words;

17 w ho forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God;

18 — for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead;

19 n one that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

20 — that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, 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 land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it.