Proverbs 2
Expanded Bible
Rewards of Wisdom
2 My ·child [or son], ·listen to [grasp] what I say
and ·remember [L store up] what I command you.
2 ·Listen carefully [L Bend your ear] to wisdom;
·set your mind on [L stretch your heart to] understanding.
3 Cry out for wisdom,
and ·beg [shout out loud] for understanding.
4 ·Search [Seek] for it like silver,
and ·hunt [search] for it like hidden treasure.
5 Then you will understand ·respect [fear; awe; 1:7] for the Lord,
and you will find ·that you know God [the knowledge of God].
6 Only the Lord gives wisdom;
·he gives [L from his mouth comes] knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up ·wisdom [resourcefulness] for those who ·are honest [have integrity].
Like a shield he protects the innocent.
8 He ·makes sure that justice is done [L guards the path of justice],
and he protects those who are loyal to him.
9 Then you will understand what is ·honest [righteous] and ·fair [just]
and what is ·the good and right thing to do [L virtuous, every good course/path].
10 Wisdom will ·come into your mind [penetrate your heart],
and knowledge will be ·pleasing [attractive] to you.
11 ·Good sense [Discretion] will protect you;
understanding will guard you.
12 It will keep you from the ·wicked [L evil path],
from those whose words are ·bad [perverted; twisted],
13 who ·don’t do what is right [L abandoned the road of integrity]
but ·what is evil [L go on dark paths].
14 They enjoy doing wrong
and are happy ·to do what is crooked and [L with their twisted] evil.
15 What they do is ·wrong [confused],
and ·their ways are dishonest [L they go on wrong courses].
16 It [C Wisdom] will save you from the ·unfaithful wife [L strange woman]
·who tries to lead you into adultery [L from the foreign woman] with ·pleasing words [flattery; compliments].
17 She leaves ·the husband she married when she was young [L the intimate relationship of her youth].
She ·ignores [forgets] ·the promise she made before [L her covenant with] God.
18 Her house ·is on the way [L sinks down] to death;
·those who took that path are now all dead [or her paths come down to her dead ancestors].
19 No one who goes to her comes back
or walks the path of life again.
20 ·But wisdom will help you be good [or Stay on the path of good people]
and ·do what is right [guard the road of the righteous].
21 Those who ·are honest [have integrity/virtue] will live in the land,
and those who are ·innocent [blameless] will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be ·removed [L cut off] from the land,
and the unfaithful will be ·thrown out of [L uprooted from] it.
Proverbs 2
Tree of Life Version
Seek Treasures of Wisdom
2 My son, if you accept my words
and treasure my mitzvot within you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom,
inclining your heart to discernment,
3 yes, if you call out for insight,
lifting up your voice for discernment,
4 if you seek her as silver
and search for her as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will know the fear of Adonai
and discover the knowledge of God.
6 For Adonai gives wisdom.[a]
Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.
8 He guards the paths of justice,
and protects the way of His kedoshim.
9 Then you will discern what is right
and just and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will watch over you
—discernment will guard you—
12 to deliver you from the way of evil,
from those speaking perverse things,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing wrong
and delight in the perversity of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and are devious in their ways—
16 to deliver you from a seducing woman—
a wayward wife with seductive words,
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house sinks down to death
and her tracks to the dead.
19 None who go to her return
nor reach the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land
and the blameless will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land
and the treacherous uprooted from it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:6 cf. Jacob 1:5.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.