Proverbs 2
Lexham English Bible
The Benefits of Wisdom
2 My child, if you will receive[a] my sayings,
and hide my commands with you,
2 in order to incline your ear toward wisdom,
then you shall apply your heart to understanding.
3 For if you cry out for understanding,[b]
if you lift[c] your voice for insight,
4 if you seek her like silver
and search her out like treasure,[d]
5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh,
and the knowledge of God you will find.
6 For Yahweh will give wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 For the upright, he stores[e] sound judgment, a shield for those who walk uprightly,
8 in order to guard paths of justice
and keep[f] the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and uprightness—every good course—
10 for wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul.[g]
11 Discretion will watch over you;
understanding will protect you,
12 in order to deliver you from the way of evil,[h]
from a man who speaks devious things—
13 those who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in ways of darkness,
14 those who are happy to do evil,
for they delight in the deviousness of evil,
15 who are crooked in their ways,[i]
and devious in their paths;
16 in order to deliver you from a strange woman,
from a foreign woman who flatters[j] with her sayings,
17 she who forsakes the partner of her youth
and has forgotten the covenant of her God,
18 for her house sinks to death,
and to the dead[k] are her paths.
19 Of all who go to her, none shall return,
nor do they reach paths of life.
20 So that you will walk on the road of those who are good,
and the paths of those who are righteous you shall keep.
21 For those who are upright will dwell in the land,[l]
and those who are blameless[m] will remain in it.
22 And those who are wicked will be cut off from the land,
and those who are treacherous will be uprooted from it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:1 Or “take, seize”
- Proverbs 2:3 Or “call to understanding”
- Proverbs 2:3 Or “carry, give”
- Proverbs 2:4 Literally “like the treasures”
- Proverbs 2:7 Or “hides, keeps”
- Proverbs 2:8 Or “preserve, guard, watch”
- Proverbs 2:10 Or “inner self”
- Proverbs 2:12 Or “evildoer”
- Proverbs 2:15 Literally “that in their ways are crooked”
- Proverbs 2:16 Or “makes smooth”
- Proverbs 2:18 Or “Rephaim”
- Proverbs 2:21 Or “earth”
- Proverbs 2:21 Or “innocent”
Proverbs 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Value of Wisdom
2 My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,(A)
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding,
3 if you indeed cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures—(B)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(C)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;(D)
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,(E)
8 guarding the paths of justice
and preserving the way of his faithful ones.(F)
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path,(G)
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 prudence will watch over you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 It will save you from the way of evil,
from those who speak perversely,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,(H)
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,(I)
15 those whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.(J)
16 You will be saved from the loose woman,[a]
from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words,(K)
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets her sacred covenant,
18 for her way[c] leads down to death
and her paths to the shades;(L)
19 those who go to her never come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 Therefore walk in the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the just.
21 For the upright will abide in the land,
and the innocent will remain in it,(M)
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.(N)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.