1 M y son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,

2 S o that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

3 Y es, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,

4 I f you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 T hen you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.

6 F or the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 H e stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

8 H e guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

9 T hen you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

10 W hen wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

11 D iscretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,

12 T o deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,

13 F rom those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 W ho rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

15 W hose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;

16 T o deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,

17 W ho forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

18 F or her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;

19 N one who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—

20 S o you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.

21 F or the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

22 B ut the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.