⁷ He reserves ability for those with integrity.
    He is a shield for those who live a blameless life.
⁸ He protects the paths of justice
    and guards the way of those who are loyal to him.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
    as well as integrity, every good course.
¹⁰ Wisdom will enter your mind,
    and knowledge will fill you with delight.
¹¹ Discretion will guard you;
    understanding will protect you.
¹² Wisdom will rescue you from the evil path,
    from people who twist their words.
¹³ They forsake the way of integrity
    and go on obscure paths.
¹⁴ They enjoy doing evil,
    rejoicing in their twisted evil.
¹⁵ Their paths are confused;
    they get lost on their way.
¹⁶ Wisdom will rescue you from the mysterious woman,
    from the foreign woman with her slick words.
¹⁷ She leaves behind the partner of her youth;
    she even forgets her covenant with God.
¹⁸ Her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths go down to the shadowy dead.
¹⁹ All those who go to her will never return;
    they will never again reach the ways of the living.
²⁰ So you should stay on the path of good people,
    guarding the road of the righteous.
²¹ Those who have integrity will dwell in the land;
    the innocent will remain in it.
²² But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be ripped up.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command;
    don’t abandon your mother’s instruction.
²¹ Bind them on your heart for all time;
    fasten them around your neck.
²² When you walk around, they will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will protect you;
    when you awake, they will occupy your attention.
²³ The commandment is a lamp and instruction a light;
    corrective teaching is the path of life.
²⁴ They guard you from the evil woman,
    from the flattering tongue of the foreign woman.

7 My son, keep my words;
    store up my commands within you.
² Keep my commands and live,
    and my instruction like the pupil of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
    call understanding “friend,”
⁵     so she might guard you against the mysterious woman,
        from the foreign woman who flatters you.

¹⁹ With lots of words comes wrongdoing,
    but the wise restrain their lips.