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

My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,

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

Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;

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

For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;

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

If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;

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

Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God.

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

For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

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

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

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

Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

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

Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course.

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

For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 d iscretion shall preserve thee, intelligence shall keep thee

Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you,

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

To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things;

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

From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

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

Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

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

Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

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

To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

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

That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God;

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

For her house sinks down to death And her tracks lead to the dead;

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

None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

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

So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to 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 will live in the land And the blameless will 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 will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.