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 3:13-24
Lexham English Bible
13 Happy is the one[a] who finds wisdom,
and one who obtains understanding.
14 For her[b] income is better than the income of silver,
and her revenue than that of gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies,
and all your desires shall not compare with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life for those who seize her;
those who take hold of her are considered happy.
Role of Wisdom in Creation and Society
19 Yahweh in wisdom founded the earth;
he established the heavens in understanding.
20 With his knowledge, depths broke open,
and clouds dropped dew.
21 My child, may they[c] not escape from your sight;[d]
may you keep sound wisdom and prudence.
22 They shall be life for your soul[e]
and adornment[f] for your neck.
23 Then you will walk in the confidence of your ways,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 If you sit down, you will not panic,[g]
and if you lie down, then your sleep shall be sweet.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 3:13 Literally “a man”
- Proverbs 3:14 Or “its”; both “wisdom” and “understanding” are feminine nouns and can be read as either “she” or “it”
- Proverbs 3:21 Grammatically, “they” most likely refers to clouds (3:20). In context, “they” may refer to wisdom and understanding (3:13).
- Proverbs 3:21 Literally “eyes”
- Proverbs 3:22 Or “inner self”
- Proverbs 3:22 Or “favor”
- Proverbs 3:24 Or “fear, dread”
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