Proverbs 2

Chapter 2

¹My son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee, ²so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and thou apply thy heart to understanding; ³yea, if thou criest after discernment and liftest up thy voice to understanding; ⁴if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures: ⁵then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God. ⁶For Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to them that walk in integrity; ⁸guarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones. ⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, ¹¹discretion shall keep thee, understanding shall preserve thee: ¹²To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the man that speaketh froward things; ¹³from those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; ¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil; ¹⁵whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course: ¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words; ¹⁷who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God; ¹⁸—for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead; ¹⁹none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life: ²⁰—that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, and keep the paths of the righteous. ²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it; ²²but the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it.