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

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

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

so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to intelligence,

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

yea, if thou criest for understanding and givest thy voice unto intelligence,

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

if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures,

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

then shalt thou 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;

For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and intelligence.

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

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

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

keeping the paths of judgment and the way of his merciful ones.

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

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

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

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

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

discretion shall preserve thee, intelligence shall keep thee

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

to deliver thee from the evil way, from the man that speaks perversion,

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

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;

who rejoice to do evil and delight in wicked perversion,

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

whose ways are crooked, and they are crooked in their paths;

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

to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words,

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

who forsakes the prince 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;

Therefore her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

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

None that go unto her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life.

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

That thou may walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous.

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

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

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

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