The Value of Wisdom

2 My son, if you receive my words, And atreasure 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 bIf you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 cThen you will understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

6 dFor the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

eHe is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

8 He guards the paths of justice,

And fpreserves 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;

gUnderstanding 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 hwalk in the ways of darkness;

14 iWho rejoice in doing evil,

And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

15 jWhose ways are crooked,

And who are devious in their paths;

16 To deliver you from kthe immoral woman,

lFrom the seductress who flatters with her words,

17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,

And forgets the covenant of her God.

18 For mher house 1leads down to death,

And her paths to the dead;

19 None who go to her return,

Nor do they 2regain 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 nland,

And the blameless will remain in it;

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

And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.