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Proverbs 2
New International Version
Proverbs 2
New International Version
Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 My son,(A) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding(B)—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(E)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)
9 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)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God
Proverbs 2
The Message
Proverbs 2
The Message
Make Insight Your Priority
2 1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;
collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
6-8 And here’s why: God gives out Wisdom free,
is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
He’s a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well,
a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
He keeps his eye on all who live honestly,
and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
9-15 So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,
find all the good trails!
Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,
and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,
Insight will keep an eye out for you.
They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,
or following the bad directions
Of those who are lost themselves
and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
These losers who make a game of evil
and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
Traveling paths that go nowhere,
wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
16-19 Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress—
that smooth-talking Seductress
Who’s faithless to the husband she married years ago,
never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
Her whole way of life is doomed;
every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
No one who joins her company ever comes back,
ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20-22 So—join the company of good men and women,
keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.
It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land,
the women with integrity who will last here.
The corrupt will lose their lives;
the dishonest will be gone for good.
Proverbs 2
English Standard Version
Proverbs 2
English Standard Version
The Value of Wisdom
2 (A)My son, (B)if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice (C)for understanding,
4 if you seek it like (D)silver
and search for it as for (E)hidden treasures,
5 then (F)you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For (G)the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is (H)a shield to those who (I)walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and (J)watching over the way of his (K)saints.
9 (L)Then you will understand (M)righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 (N)discretion will (O)watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to (P)walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who (Q)rejoice in doing evil
and (R)delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose (S)paths are crooked,
(T)and who are (U)devious in their ways.
16 So (V)you will be delivered from the forbidden[a] woman,
from (W)the adulteress[b] with (X)her smooth words,
17 who forsakes (Y)the companion of her youth
and forgets (Z)the covenant of her God;
18 (AA)for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;[c]
19 none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright (AB)will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be (AC)cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be (AD)rooted out of it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
- Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
- Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.