Proverbs 2

The Value of Wisdom

2My son, if you receive my words, And ^atreasure my commands within you,

²So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

^4bIf you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

^5cThen you will understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

^6dFor the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

⁷He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

^eHe is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

⁸He guards the paths of justice,

And ^fpreserves the way of His saints.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice,

Equity and every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom enters your heart,

And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

¹¹Discretion will preserve you;

^gUnderstanding will keep you,

¹²To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the man who speaks perverse things,

¹³From those who leave the paths of uprightness

To ^hwalk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴ⁱWho rejoice in doing evil,

And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

^15jWhose ways are crooked,

And who are devious in their paths;

¹⁶To deliver you from ^kthe immoral woman,

^lFrom the seductress who flatters with her words,

¹⁷Who forsakes the companion of her youth,

And forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For ^mher house ¹leads down to death,

And her paths to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return,

Nor do they ²regain the paths of life—

²⁰So you may walk in the way of goodness,

And keep to the paths of righteousness.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the ⁿland,

And the blameless will remain in it;

²²But the wicked will be ³cut off from the ⁴earth,

And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.