1 M y son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,

2 T o cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,

3 F or, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,

4 I f thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,

5 T hen understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.

6 F or Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.

7 E ven to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.

8 T o keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.

9 T hen understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness -- every good path.

10 F or wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,

11 T houghtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,

12 T o deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,

13 W ho are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,

14 W ho are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,

15 W hose paths crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.

16 T o deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,

17 W ho is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.

18 F or her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.

19 N one going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

20 T hat thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.

21 F or the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,

22 A nd the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!