2
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 make your ears pay attention to wisdom
and incline your heart to understanding.
3 If you cry out for understanding
and raise your voice for it,
4 if you seek it like you would seek silver
and search for understanding as you would seek hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh
and you will find the knowledge of God.
6 For Yahweh gives wisdom,
from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for those who please him,
he is a shield for those who walk in integrity,
8 he guards the paths of justice
and he will preserve the way of those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and equity,
and 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 They will rescue you from the way of evil,
from those who speak perverse things,
13 who abandon the right paths
and walk in the ways of darkness.
14 They rejoice when they do evil
and delight in the perversities of evil.
15 They follow crooked paths,
and using deception they hide their tracks.
16 Wisdom and discretion will save you from an adulterous woman,
from an immoral woman and her flattering words.
17 She forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death
and her tracks will lead you to those in the grave.
19 All who go in to her will not return again
and they will not find the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of good people
and follow the paths of righteous people.
21 For those doing right will make a home in the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the faithless will be cut off from it.