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

Benefits of wisdom

My son, accept my words
    and store up my commands.
Turn your ear toward wisdom,
    and stretch your mind toward understanding.
Call out for insight,
    and cry aloud for understanding.
Seek it like silver;
    search for it like hidden treasure.
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
    and discover the knowledge of God.
The Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He reserves ability for those with integrity.
    He is a shield for those who live a blameless life.
He protects the paths of justice
    and guards the way of those who are loyal to him.
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.