Add parallel Print Page Options

Yahweh Gives Wisdom

My son, if you will (A)receive my words
And (B)treasure my commandments within you,
(C)To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,
Incline your heart to discernment;
For if you call out for understanding,
Give your voice for discernment;
If you seek her as (D)silver
And search for her as for (E)hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the (F)fear of Yahweh
And find the knowledge of God.
For (G)Yahweh gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and discernment.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright,
A (H)shield to those who walk in integrity,
To guard the paths of justice,
And He (I)keeps the way of His holy ones.
Then you will understand (J)righteousness and justice
And equity—every (K)good track.
10 For (L)wisdom will enter your heart
And (M)knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will (N)keep you,
Discernment will guard you,
12 To (O)deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks (P)perverse things;
13 From those who (Q)forsake the paths of uprightness
To walk in the (R)ways of darkness;
14 Who are (S)glad to do evil
And they rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are (T)crooked,
And who are devious in their tracks;
16 To deliver you from the [a](U)strange woman,
From the [b](V)foreign woman who flatters with her words;
17 Who forsakes the close (W)companion of her youth
And forgets the (X)covenant of her God;
18 For (Y)her house [c]sinks down to death
And her tracks descend to the [d]dead;
19 All (Z)who go to her will not return,
And they will not reach the (AA)paths of life.
20 So that you will (AB)walk in the way of good men
And keep to the (AC)paths of the righteous.
21 For (AD)the upright will dwell in the land
And (AE)the blameless will remain in it;
22 But (AF)the wicked will be cut off from the land
And (AG)the treacherous will be (AH)torn away from it.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:16 A forbidden woman, outside of the marriage covenant; an adulteress; parallel with foreign woman; so in Prov
  2. Proverbs 2:16 An unfamiliar woman, alien to the marriage covenant; parallel with strange woman
  3. Proverbs 2:18 Lit bows down
  4. Proverbs 2:18 Lit departed spirits

Wisdom’s Worth

My son, if you accept my words(A)
and store up my commands within you,
listening closely[a] to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,(B)
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.(C)
He stores up success[b] for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with integrity(D)
so that He may guard the paths of justice
and protect the way of His loyal followers.(E)
Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
and integrity—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your mind,
and knowledge will delight your heart.
11 Discretion will watch over you,
and understanding will guard you,(F)
12 rescuing you from the way of evil—
from the one who says perverse things,
13 from those who abandon the right paths
to walk in ways of darkness,(G)
14 from those who enjoy doing evil(H)
and celebrate perversion,
15 whose paths are crooked,(I)
and whose ways are devious.(J)
16 It will rescue you from a forbidden woman,(K)
from a stranger[c] with her flattering talk,(L)
17 who abandons the companion of her youth(M)
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house sinks down to death
and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.(N)
19 None return who go to her;
none reach the paths of life.(O)
20 So follow the way of good people,(P)
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those of integrity will remain in it;(Q)
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,(R)
and the treacherous uprooted from it.(S)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:2 Lit you, stretching out your ear
  2. Proverbs 2:7 Or resourcefulness
  3. Proverbs 2:16 Or foreign woman