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智慧使人认识 神

我儿,如果你接受我的话,

把我的诫命珍藏在心里,

留心听智慧,

致力求聪明;

如果你为求哲理而呼喊,

为求聪明而扬声;

如果你寻找它如同寻找银子,

搜寻它好象搜寻宝藏;

你就明白怎样敬畏耶和华,

并且获得对 神的认识。

因为耶和华赐人智慧,

知识和聪明都出自他的口。

他为正直人珍藏大智慧,

给行为完全的人作盾牌;

为要看顾正直人的路径,

护卫虔诚人的道路。

这样,你就明白公义、公正、正直,

以及一切善道。

智慧使人行走义路

10 智慧必进入你的心,

知识必使你欢悦。

11 明辨的能力必护卫你,

聪明必看顾你;

12 要救你脱离邪恶的道路,

脱离说话乖谬的人。

13 那些人离弃正道,

走上黑暗的道路。

14 他们喜欢行恶,

喜悦恶人的乖谬。

15 他们的道路弯曲,

他们的行径偏离正道。

16 智慧要救你脱离淫妇,

脱离说谄媚话的妓女。

17 她离弃年轻时的配偶,

忘记了 神的约;

18 她的家陷入死地,

她的路径下落阴间。

19 凡是进到她那里去的,都不能转回,

必得不着生路。

20 因此,智慧必使你走在良善人的道上,

持守义人的路。

21 因为正直人必在地上安居,

完全人必在世上存留;

22 但恶人必从地上除灭,

行事奸诈的必从世上拔除。

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

My son,(A) if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding(B)
indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
    and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.(E)
For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)

Then you will understand(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.(M)

12 Wisdom will save(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(P)
15 whose paths are crooked(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.(R)

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(U)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.(V)

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked(X) will be cut off from the land,(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God

Chapter 2

Wisdom Will Enter into Your Heart[a]

My son, if you take my words to heart
    and look upon my instructions as a treasure,
attuning your ear to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding,
if you cry out for the gift of discernment[b]
    and plead for understanding,
if you seek for it as for silver
    and search for it as for buried treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord[c]
    and discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord himself is the one who bestows wisdom;
    from his mouth come forth knowledge and understanding.
He reserves his wisdom for the upright
    and is a shield to those who lead blameless lives,
for he guards the paths of justice
    and keeps watch over the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand equity and justice
    as well as righteousness—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
    and knowledge will delight your soul.[d]
11 Prudence will protect you,
    and understanding will watch over you.
12 Thus, you will be preserved from the ways of evil
    and from those whose speech is perverse,[e]
13 who stray far from the straight paths[f]
    to walk along roads of darkness,
14 who take pleasure in doing evil
    and delight in leading perverse lives,
15 whose paths are crooked
    and whose ways are devious.
16 You will be saved from the wife of another,
    from the adulteress[g] with her seductive words,
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
    and forgets her sacred covenant with God.
18 For her house leads downward to death[h]
    and her paths descend to the shades.
19 Anyone who goes to her never returns
    or regains the paths of life.
20 Take care, then, that you follow the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,[i]
    and those who are innocent will remain there.
22 However, the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and those who are faithless will be uprooted from it.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:1 Coming from God, wisdom serves to enlighten our lives and is indeed the best of the inspirations that guide us. Her ideal far surpasses the human passions. For the ancients, there are two modes of life, two components, and two ways. On the one side are those whose conduct is marked by respect for God and uprightness and who are destined for the Promised Land, the covenant, i.e., true success. On the other side are people full of rebellion, thievery, and injustice. To which side do we belong, and what convictions mark our daily projects and attitude? This text remains capable of posing such a question to us. (Here we also find the theme of the adulterous woman on which the author will often dwell, notably in chs. 5–7.)
  2. Proverbs 2:3 Wisdom . . . understanding . . . discernment: these are names for the same gift.
  3. Proverbs 2:5 Fear of the Lord: see note on Prov 1:7.
  4. Proverbs 2:10 Knowledge will delight your soul: in the same way that the words of a wise man are “sweet to the soul” (Prov 16:24; see Prov 3:17).
  5. Proverbs 2:12 Speech is perverse: deceitful speech is also mentioned in Prov 6:12; 8:13; 10:31-32; 17:20; 19:1, 28; see also Eph 4:29; Jas 3:6.
  6. Proverbs 2:13 Straight paths: see Prov 3:6; 9:15-16. Roads of darkness: humans love darkness rather than light (see Jn 3:19-21; see also Job 24:15-16; Isa 29:15; Rom 13:12).
  7. Proverbs 2:16 Wife of another . . . adulteress: literally, “stranger” and “foreigner” (see Prov 5:20; 7:5). The “immoral woman” (Prov 6:24) and “prostitute” (Prov 23:27) correspond to “wife of another.” The Prophets made use of the metaphor of adultery to indicate that the people had abandoned the true God to run after false gods—an apostasy that leads to the netherworld (see v. 18; 5:5-6; 7:26-27).
  8. Proverbs 2:18 Leads downward to death: see Prov 7:27: “Her house is the pathway to the netherworld.” Immorality leads to death (see Prov 5:5; 9:18).
  9. Proverbs 2:21 The upright will live in the land: i.e., in the land of Canaan that had been promised to the people by their God (see Gen 17:8; Deut 4:1). The psalmist (Ps 37:9, 11, 29) says that the upright will possess the land (see also Mt 5:5: “The meek . . . will inherit the earth”).