Proverbs 2

The Value of Wisdom

2 My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
    and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ men whose paths are crooked,
    and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ So you will be delivered from the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from the adulteress^[b] with her smooth words,
¹⁷ who forsakes the companion of her youth
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;^[c]
19 none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰ So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
2. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
3. Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim

The Value of Wisdom

2 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure 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 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
⁵ Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
⁸ He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves 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;
Understanding 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 walk in the ways of darkness;
¹⁴ Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
¹⁵ Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
¹⁶ To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
¹⁷ Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
¹⁸ For her house ^[a]leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
¹⁹ None who go to her return,
Nor do they ^[b]regain 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 land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
²² But the wicked will be ^[c]cut off from the ^[d]earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 2:22 land
2. Proverbs 2:18 sinks
3. Proverbs 2:19 Lit. reach
4. Proverbs 2:22 destroyed