1 My son, if thou wilt receive the utterance of my commandment, and hide it with thee; 2 thine ear shall hearken to wisdom; thou shalt also apply thine heart to understanding, and shalt apply it to the instruction of thy son.

3 For if thou shalt call to wisdom, and utter thy voice for understanding; 4 and if thou shalt seek it as silver, and search diligently for it as for treasures; 5 then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; and from his presence come knowledge and understanding, 7 and he treasures up salvation for them that walk uprightly: he will protect their way; 8 that he may guard the righteous ways: and he will preserve the way of them that fear him. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment; and shalt direct *Lit. all good a les.all thy course aright.

10 For if wisdom shall come into thine understanding, and discernment shall seem pleasing to thy soul, 11 good counsel shall guard thee, and holy understanding shall keep thee; 12 to deliver thee from the evil way, and from the man that speaks nothing faithfully.

13 Alas for those who forsake right paths, to walk in ways of darkness; 14 who rejoice in evils, and delight in wicked perverseness; 15 whose paths are crooked, and their †Lit. wheel tracks. Compare Heb. 12. 13.courses winding; 16 to remove thee far from the straight way, and to estrange thee from a righteous purpose. My son, let not evil counsel overtake thee, 17 of her who has forsaken the instruction of her youth, and forgotten the covenant of God. 18 For she has fixed her house near death, and guided her wheels near Hades with the ‡See Heb.giants. 19 None that go by her shall return, neither shall they take hold of right paths, for they are not apprehended of the §Singular variation from Heb.years of life. 20 For had they gone in good paths, they would have found the paths of righteousness **Gr. smooth.easy. 21 For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the holy shall be left behind in it. 22 The paths of the ungodly shall perish out of the earth, and transgressors shall be driven away from it.