| 1 | My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, | |
| 2 | So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; | |
| 3 | Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, | |
| 4 | If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; | |
| 5 | Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. | |
| 6 | For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; | |
| 7 | He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; | |
| 8 | He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. | |
| 9 | Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. | |
| 10 | When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, | |
| 11 | Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, | |
| 12 | To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, | |
| 13 | From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; | |
| 14 | Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; | |
| 15 | Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; | |
| 16 | To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, | |
| 17 | Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. | |
| 18 | For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; | |
| 19 | None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life-- | |
| 20 | So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. | |
| 21 | For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; | |
| 22 | But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. | |