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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

None who go to her return again, 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.

So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous.

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

For the upright will live in the land And the blameless will remain in it;

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

But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.