Proverbs 2:1–22
2 My son,x if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
and applying your heart to understandingy—
3 indeed, if you call out for insightz
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,a
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.b
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;c
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.d
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shielde to those whose walk is blameless,f
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.g
9 Then you will understandh what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,i
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.j
12 Wisdom will savek you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,l
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,m
15 whose paths are crookedn
and who are devious in their ways.o
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,p
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.a q
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.r
or attain the paths of life.s
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,t
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wickedu will be cut off from the land,v
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.w