2
The results of wisdom
1 My son, listen to what I say,
and consider my instructions to be as valuable as [MET] a treasure.
2 Pay attention to wisdom
and try hard to understand it.
3 Call out to God to get insight;
plead with him to help you to understand more of what he wants you to know.
4 Search eagerly for wisdom, like you would search for silver,
like you would search for a treasure that someone has hidden.
5 If you do that, you will understand how to revere Yahweh,
and you will succeed in knowing God.
6 Yahweh is the one who gives us wisdom.
He is the one who tells us things that we need to know and understand.
7 He gives good advice to those who conduct their lives as they should.
He protects [MET] those who do what is right.
8 He guards those who act justly/fairly toward others,
and he watches over those who are faithful/loyal to him.
9 If you ask God for wisdom, you will understand what is right and just [DOU] to do,
and you will know the right way to conduct your life,
10 because you will be wise in your inner being;
and knowing what God wants you to know will cause you to be joyful.
11 If you know [PRS] how to choose what is right to do
and if you understand what God wants you to do,
God will protect you and guard you and keep you safe.
12 If you are wise [PRS], you will not do what evil people do,
and you will not believe what deceitful people say.
13 Deceitful people have stopped acting fairly/justly toward others
and ◄walk on dark and evil paths/do what evil people do► [MET].
14 They enjoy doing what is wrong;
they like to do what is evil and to deceive people.
15 They ◄walk on crooked paths/always deceive others►
and are always dishonest.
16 If you are wise [PRS], you will also be saved from ◄immoral women/prostitutes►;
you will not pay attention when adulterous women try to ◄seduce/entice you by what they say.►
17 Those women have left the husbands whom they married when they were young;
they have disregarded the solemn promise they made to God not to commit adultery.
18 If you go into houses of women who are like that,
you will die when you are still young;
the road to their houses leads to hell.
19 No man who ◄visits/sleeps with► a woman like that will again live harmoniously with his family.
He will never have a happy life again.
20 If you are wise, you should behave like good men behave.
You should ◄stay on the paths that righteous people walk on/do what godly people do► [MET],
21 because only godly people will live in this land and receive God’s blessings;
only those who have not done wrong will stay here for a long time.
22 Wicked people will be expelled from this land,
and people who are not trustworthy will be thrown {God will throw them} out of it.