1 My son, if you accept what I say and value my instructions, 2 if you pay attention to wisdom and really try to understand; 3 if you cry out for insight and call loudly for help in understanding; 4 if you look for it as if it were silver and search for it as if it were hidden treasure; 5 then you will understand how to relate to the Lord and discover the truth about God.

6 The Lord is the source of wisdom; what he says provides knowledge that makes sense. 7 He gives good judgment to those who live right; he defends those who have good sense. 8 He supports those who act fairly and protects those who trust in him. 9 Then you will be able to recognize what is right and just and fair, in fact all that is good in the way you should live. 10 For wisdom will fill your mind, and knowledge will make you happy. 11 Good decisions will keep you on track; thinking logically will keep you safe.

12 Doing this will save you from the ways of evil, from men who tell twisted lies, 13 who turn away from following what is right to walk down paths of darkness. 14 They happily do wrong; they love how twisted evil is. 15 They live crooked lives doing deceitful things.

16 Doing this will also save you from a woman who acts immorally,* from a woman who like a prostitute† tries to seduce you with flattering words. 17 Such a woman has left her husband she married when she was young, forgetting the promises she made before God. 18 What happens in her house leads to death; following her way leads to the grave. 19 No one who goes to her comes back; they don't ever find the way back to life again.

20 So you should follow the way of the good, and make sure you stay on the paths of those who do right. 21 For only people who live right will live in the land; only honest people will remain there. 22 But the wicked will be thrown out of the land; those who are untrustworthy will be pulled out by the roots.