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

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee;

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

So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding;

3 y ea, if thou criest for understanding and givest thy voice unto intelligence,

Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding;

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

If thou seek her as silver, And search for her as for hid treasures:

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

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

6 F or the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and intelligence.

For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:

7 H e keeps the person of the upright; he is a buckler to those that walk perfectly,

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

8 k eeping the paths of judgment and the way of his merciful ones.

That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints.

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

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

10 ¶ When wisdom enters into thine heart and knowledge is sweet unto thy soul,

For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;

11 d iscretion shall preserve thee, intelligence shall keep thee

Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee:

12 t o deliver thee from the evil way, from the man that speaks perversion,

To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things;

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

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

14 w ho rejoice to do evil and delight in wicked perversion,

Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil;

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

Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths:

16 t o deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words,

To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words;

17 w ho forsakes the prince of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.

That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God:

18 T herefore her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead;

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

None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:

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

That 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.

For 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.

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