Proverbs 2:6–20

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;^*

⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,^*

⁸guarding the paths of justice

and preserving the way of his faithful ones.^*

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity, every good path,^*

¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

¹¹prudence will watch over you,

and understanding will guard you.

¹²It will save you from the way of evil,

from those who speak perversely,

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness,^*

¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil

and delight in the perverseness of evil,^*

¹⁵those whose paths are crooked

and who are devious in their ways.^*

¹⁶You will be saved from the loose woman,^b

from the adulteress^c with her smooth words,^*

¹⁷who forsakes the partner of her youth

and forgets her sacred covenant,

¹⁸for her way^d leads down to death

and her paths to the shades;^*

¹⁹those who go to her never come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰Therefore walk in the way of the good,

and keep to the paths of the just.