2 aMy son, if thou wilt receive my words,

aAnd bhide my commandments with thee;

2  So that thou bbincline thine ear unto wisdom,

And apply thine heart to understanding;

3  Yea, if thou criest after cknowledge,

And †liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4  If thou seekest her das silver,

And searchest for her as for ehid treasures;

5  kThen shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

6  For fthe Lord giveth wisdom:

Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

7  He blayeth up gsound wisdom for the righteous:

He is a hbuckler to them that iwalk uprightly.

8  He iikeepeth the paths of judgment,

And jpreserveth the way of his saints.

9  kThen shalt thou understand lrighteousness, and judgment,

And mequity; yea, every good path.

10  When wisdom entereth into thine heart,

And knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

11  nDiscretion oshall preserve thee,

Understanding shall keep thee:

12  To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,

From the man that speaketh pfroward things;

13  Who leave the paths of uprightness,

To qwalk in the ways of darkness;

14  rWho rejoice to do evil,

And sdelight in the pfrowardness of the wicked;

15  Whose ways are tcrooked,

And they ufroward in their paths:

16  wTo deliver thee from the xstrange woman,

wEven from ythe stranger which zflattereth with her words;

17  Which forsaketh athe guide of her youth,

And forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18  For bher house inclineth unto death,

And her cpaths unto dthe dead.

19  None that go unto her return again,

Neither take they hold of the paths of life.

20  That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,

And keep the paths of the righteous.

21  For the upright eshall dwell in the land,

And the perfect shall remain in it.

22  But the wicked fshall be cut off from the earth,

And gthe transgressors shall be ||rooted out of it.

3 My son, forget not my law;

aBut let thine heart keep my commandments:

2  For blength of days, and †long life,

And cpeace, shall they add to thee.

3  Let not dmercy and truth forsake thee:

eBind them about thy fneck;

ffWrite them upon the table of thine heart:

4  gSo shalt thou find hfavour and ||good understanding

gIn the sight of God and man.

5  iTrust in the Lord with all thine heart;

And jlean not unto thine own understanding.

6  In all thy ways kacknowledge him,

And lhe shall direct thy paths.

7  mBe not wise in thine own eyes:

nFear the Lord, and nodepart from evil.

8  It shall be †health to thy navel,

And †pmarrow to thy bones.

9  Honour the Lord with thy substance,

And with qthe firstfruits of all thine increase:

10  So shall thy rbarns be filled with plenty,

And thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

11  sMy son, despise not the chastening of the Lord;

Neither be weary of his correction:

12  For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth;

Even tas a father the son in whom he delighteth.

13  uHappy is the man that findeth wisdom,

And †the man that getteth understanding.

14  For xthe merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,

And the gain thereof than yfine gold.

15  She is more precious than zrubies:

And aall the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

16  bLength of days is in her right hand;

And in her left hand criches and honour.

17  dHer ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace.

18  She is ea tree of life to them that eelay hold upon her:

And happy is every one that retaineth her.

19  fThe Lord gby wisdom hath founded the earth;

gBy understanding hath he ||established the heavens.

20  By his knowledge hthe depths are broken up,

And ithe clouds drop down jthe dew.

21  My son, klet not them depart from thine eyes:

Keep lsound wisdom and mdiscretion:

22  So shall they be nlife unto thy soul,

And grace to thy oneck.

23  pThen shalt thou walk in thy way safely,

And qthy foot shall not stumble.

24  rWhen thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid:

Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

25  sBe not afraid of sudden fear,

ssNeither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

26  For the Lord shall be thy confidence,

And shall tkeep thy foot from being taken.

27  uWithhold not good from †them to whom it is due,

When it is xin the power of thine hand to do it.

28  ySay not unto thy neighbour,

Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give;

When thou hast it by thee.

29  ||Devise not evil against thy neighbour,

Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

30  zStrive not with a man without cause,

If he have done thee no harm.

31  aEnvy thou not †the oppressor,

And choose none of his ways.

32  For the bfroward is abomination to the Lord:

But chis secret is with the righteous.

33  dThe curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked:

But ddhe blesseth the habitation of the just.

34  Surely ehe scorneth the fscorners:

But he giveth grace unto the lowly.

35  gThe wise shall inherit glory:

But shame †shall be the promotion of fools.

4 aHear, ye children, the instruction of a father,

And attend to know bunderstanding.

2  For I give you good cdoctrine,

Forsake ye not my law.

3  For I was my father’s son,

dTender and eonly beloved in the sight of my mother.

4  fHe taught me also, and said unto me,

Let thine heart retain my words:

gKeep my commandments, and live.

5  hiGet wisdom, iget bunderstanding:

Forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:

jLove her, and she shall keep thee.

7  Wisdom is kthe principal thing; therefore iget wisdom:

And with all thy getting iget bunderstanding.

8  Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:

She shall lbring thee to honour, when thou dost membrace her.

9  She shall give to thine head nan ornament of grace:

||A crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

10  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;

And othe years of thy life shall be many.

11  pI have taught thee in the way of wisdom;

I have led thee in right paths.

12  When thou goest, qthy steps shall not be straitened;

And rwhen thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

13  sTake fast hold of instruction; slet her not go:

Keep her; for she is thy life.

14  tEnter not into the path of the wicked,

And ugo not in the way of evil men.

15  xAvoid it, pass not by it,

yTurn from it, and pass away.

16  zFor they sleep not, except they have done mischief;

And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

17  For they eat the bread of wickedness,

And drink the wine of violence.

18  aBut the path of the just is bas the shining light,

That shineth cmore and more unto the perfect day.

19  dThe way of the wicked is as darkness:

They know not eat what they stumble.

20  eeMy son, attend to my words;

Incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21  fLet them not depart from thine eyes;

gKeep them in the midst of thine heart.

22  For they are hlife unto those that find them,

And †health to all their flesh.

23  Keep thy heart †with all diligence;

iFor out of it are kthe issues of life.

24  Put away from thee †a lfroward mouth,

And mperverse lips put far from thee.

25  Let thine eyes look right on,

And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

26  nPonder the path of thy feet,

And ||let all thy ways be established.

27  oTurn not to the right hand nor to the left:

pRemove thy foot from evil.

5 aMy son, attend unto my wisdom,

And aabow thine ear to my understanding:

2  That thou mayest regard bdiscretion,

And that thy lips may ckeep knowledge.

3  For the lips of a dstrange woman edrop as an honeycomb,

And her †mouth is fsmoother than oil:

4  But her end is gbitter as hwormwood,

fiSharp as a ktwoedged sword.

5  Her feet lgo down to death;

Her steps take hold on hell.

6  Lest thou shouldest mponder the path of life,

Her nways oare moveable, that pthou canst not know them.

7  qHear me now therefore, O ye children,

And depart not from the words of my mouth.

8  Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house:

9  Lest thou give thine honour unto others,

And thy years unto the rcruel:

10  Lest strangers be filled with †thy wealth;

And thy slabours be in the house of a stranger;

11  And thou tmourn at the last,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12  And say, How have I uhated instruction,

And my heart xdespised reproof;

13  And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14  I was yalmost in all evil

In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15  Drink zwaters out of thine own cistern,

And running waters out of thine own well.

16  Let thy afountains be dispersed abroad,

And rivers of waters bin the streets.

17  Let them be only thine own,

And not strangers’ with thee.

18  Let thy zfountain be blessed:

And crejoice with dthe wife of thy youth.

19  Let her be as the loving ehind and pleasant froe;

Let her gbreasts †hsatisfy thee at all times;

And †be thou ravished always with her love.

20  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a istrange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a istranger?

21  For jthe ways of man are before kthe eyes of the Lord,

And he lpondereth all his mgoings.

22  nHis own iniquities shall otake the wicked himself,

And he shall be holden with the cords of his †sins.

23  pHe shall die without instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall qgo astray.

6 My son, if thou abe surety for thy friend,

If thou hast astricken thy hand with a stranger,

2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,

Thou art btaken with the words of thy mouth.

3  Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,

When thou art come into the hand of thy friend;

Go, chumble thyself, ||and make sure thy friend.

4  dGive not sleep to thine eyes,

dNor slumber to thine eyelids.

5  Deliver thyself as a eroe from the hand of the hunter,

And fas a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  gGo to the hant, thou isluggard;

Consider her ways, and kbe wise:

7  lWhich having no mguide, noverseer, or ruler,

8  hProvideth her meat in the summer,

And ogathereth her food in the harvest.

9  How long wilt thou sleep, O isluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10  pYet a little dsleep, a little dslumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

11  qSo shall rthy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

12  rrA naughty person, a wicked man,

Walketh with a sfroward mouth.

13  He twinketh with his eyes,

He speaketh with his feet,

He teacheth with his fingers;

14  uFrowardness is in his heart,

xHe deviseth