Proverbs 2
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Gives Wisdom
2 My son, if you will (A)receive my words
And (B)treasure my commandments within you,
2 (C)To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,
Incline your heart to discernment;
3 For if you call out for understanding,
Give your voice for discernment;
4 If you seek her as (D)silver
And search for her as for (E)hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the (F)fear of Yahweh
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For (G)Yahweh gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and discernment.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright,
A (H)shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 To guard the paths of justice,
And He (I)keeps the way of His holy ones.
9 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
- Proverbs 2:16 A forbidden woman, outside of the marriage covenant; an adulteress; parallel with foreign woman; so in Prov
- Proverbs 2:16 An unfamiliar woman, alien to the marriage covenant; parallel with strange woman
- Proverbs 2:18 Lit bows down
- Proverbs 2:18 Lit departed spirits
Proverbs 2
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Benefit of Wisdom
2 My son,
if you take my words ⌞to heart⌟
and treasure my commands within you,
2 if you pay close attention to wisdom,
and let your mind reach for understanding,
3 if indeed you call out for insight,
if you ask aloud for understanding,
4 if you search for wisdom as if it were money
and hunt for it as if it were hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and you will find the knowledge of God.
6 The Lord gives wisdom.
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He has reserved priceless wisdom for decent people.
He is a shield for those who walk in integrity
8 in order to guard those on paths of justice
and to watch over the way of his godly ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—
every good course ⌞in life⌟.
10 Wisdom will come into your heart.
Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Foresight will protect you.
Understanding will guard you.
12 ⌞Wisdom will⌟ save you
from the way of evil,
from the person who speaks devious things,
13 from those who abandon the paths of righteousness
to walk the ways of darkness,
14 from those who enjoy doing evil,
from those who find joy in the deviousness of evil.
15 Their paths are crooked.
Their ways are devious.
16 ⌞Wisdom will⌟ also save you
from an adulterous woman,
from a loose woman with her smooth talk,
17 who leaves ⌞her husband,⌟ the closest friend of her youth,
and forgets her marriage vows to her God.
18 Her house sinks down to death.
Her ways lead to the souls of the dead.
19 None who have sex with her come back.
Nor do they ever reach the paths of life.
20 So walk in the way of good people
and stay on the paths of righteous people.
21 Decent people will live in the land.
People of integrity will remain in it.
22 But wicked people will be cut off from the land
and treacherous people will be torn [a] from it.
Footnotes
- 2:22 Or “will be swept away.”
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