Proverbs 2:6-19

English Standard Version

⁶For ^(A)the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is ^(B)a shield to those who ^(C)walk in integrity,
⁸guarding the paths of justice
    and ^(D)watching over the way of his ^(E)saints.
⁹^(F)Then you will understand ^(G)righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹^(H)discretion will ^(I)watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹²delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to ^(J)walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴who ^(K)rejoice in doing evil
    and ^(L)delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵men whose ^(M)paths are crooked,
    ^(N)and who are ^(O)devious in their ways.

¹⁶So ^(P)you will be delivered from the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(Q)the adulteress^[b] with ^(R)her smooth words,
¹⁷who forsakes ^(S)the companion of her youth
    and forgets ^(T)the covenant of her God;
¹⁸^(U)for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;^[c]
¹⁹none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.