² To know wisdom and instruction,
To ^[a]perceive the words of understanding,
³ To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
⁴ To give prudence to the ^(B)simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
^5 (C)A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will ^[b]attain wise counsel,
⁶ To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their ^(D)riddles.

^7 (E)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
^(H)Do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us,
Let us ^(I)lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹² Let us swallow them alive like ^[c]Sheol,
And whole, ^(J)like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³ We shall find all kinds of precious ^[d]possessions,
We shall fill our houses with ^[e]spoil;
¹⁴ Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵ My son, ^(K)do not walk in the way with them,
^(L)Keep your foot from their path;
^16 (M)For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ Surely, in ^[f]vain the net is spread
In the sight of any ^[g]bird;
¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
^19 (N)So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁸ “Then^(U) they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
²⁹ Because they ^(V)hated knowledge
And did not ^(W)choose the fear of the Lord,
^30 (X)They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
³¹ Therefore ^(Y)they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
³² For the ^[l]turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell ^(Z)safely,
And ^(AA)will be ^[m]secure, without fear of evil.”

¹⁰ When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
¹¹ Discretion will preserve you;
^(AH)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 ^(AI)walk in the ways of darkness;
^14 (AJ)Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
^15 (AK)Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
¹⁶ To deliver you from ^(AL)the immoral woman,
^(AM)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 ^(AN)her house ^[n]leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
¹⁹ None who go to her return,
Nor do they ^[o]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 ^(AO)land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
²² But the wicked will be ^[p]cut off from the ^[q]earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.