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Proverbs 2
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
Wisdom Will Enter into Your Heart[a]
1 My son, if you take my words to heart
and look upon my instructions as a treasure,
2 attuning your ear to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding,
3 if you cry out for the gift of discernment[b]
and plead for understanding,
4 if you seek for it as for silver
and search for it as for buried treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord[c]
and discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord himself is the one who bestows wisdom;
from his mouth come forth knowledge and understanding.
7 He reserves his wisdom for the upright
and is a shield to those who lead blameless lives,
8 for he guards the paths of justice
and keeps watch over the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand equity and justice
as well as righteousness—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
and knowledge will delight your soul.[d]
11 Prudence will protect you,
and understanding will watch over you.
12 Thus, you will be preserved from the ways of evil
and from those whose speech is perverse,[e]
13 who stray far from the straight paths[f]
to walk along roads of darkness,
14 who take pleasure in doing evil
and delight in leading perverse lives,
15 whose paths are crooked
and whose ways are devious.
16 You will be saved from the wife of another,
from the adulteress[g] with her seductive words,
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets her sacred covenant with God.
18 For her house leads downward to death[h]
and her paths descend to the shades.
19 Anyone who goes to her never returns
or regains the paths of life.
20 Take care, then, that you follow the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,[i]
and those who are innocent will remain there.
22 However, the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and those who are faithless will be uprooted from it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:1 Coming from God, wisdom serves to enlighten our lives and is indeed the best of the inspirations that guide us. Her ideal far surpasses the human passions. For the ancients, there are two modes of life, two components, and two ways. On the one side are those whose conduct is marked by respect for God and uprightness and who are destined for the Promised Land, the covenant, i.e., true success. On the other side are people full of rebellion, thievery, and injustice. To which side do we belong, and what convictions mark our daily projects and attitude? This text remains capable of posing such a question to us. (Here we also find the theme of the adulterous woman on which the author will often dwell, notably in chs. 5–7.)
- Proverbs 2:3 Wisdom . . . understanding . . . discernment: these are names for the same gift.
- Proverbs 2:5 Fear of the Lord: see note on Prov 1:7.
- Proverbs 2:10 Knowledge will delight your soul: in the same way that the words of a wise man are “sweet to the soul” (Prov 16:24; see Prov 3:17).
- Proverbs 2:12 Speech is perverse: deceitful speech is also mentioned in Prov 6:12; 8:13; 10:31-32; 17:20; 19:1, 28; see also Eph 4:29; Jas 3:6.
- Proverbs 2:13 Straight paths: see Prov 3:6; 9:15-16. Roads of darkness: humans love darkness rather than light (see Jn 3:19-21; see also Job 24:15-16; Isa 29:15; Rom 13:12).
- Proverbs 2:16 Wife of another . . . adulteress: literally, “stranger” and “foreigner” (see Prov 5:20; 7:5). The “immoral woman” (Prov 6:24) and “prostitute” (Prov 23:27) correspond to “wife of another.” The Prophets made use of the metaphor of adultery to indicate that the people had abandoned the true God to run after false gods—an apostasy that leads to the netherworld (see v. 18; 5:5-6; 7:26-27).
- Proverbs 2:18 Leads downward to death: see Prov 7:27: “Her house is the pathway to the netherworld.” Immorality leads to death (see Prov 5:5; 9:18).
- Proverbs 2:21 The upright will live in the land: i.e., in the land of Canaan that had been promised to the people by their God (see Gen 17:8; Deut 4:1). The psalmist (Ps 37:9, 11, 29) says that the upright will possess the land (see also Mt 5:5: “The meek . . . will inherit the earth”).
Proverbs 2
The Voice
Proverbs 2
The Voice
2 My son, if you accept what I am telling you
and store my counsel and directives deep within you,
2 If you listen for Lady Wisdom, attune your ears to her,
and engage your mind to understand what she is telling you,
3 If you cry out to her for insight
and beg for understanding,
4 If you sift through the clamor of everything around you
to seek her like some precious prize,
to search for her like buried treasure;
5 Then you will grasp what it means to truly respect the Eternal,
and you will have discovered the knowledge of the one True God.
6 The Eternal is ready to share His wisdom with us,
for His words bring true knowledge and insight;
7 He has stored up the essentials of sound wisdom for those who do right;
He acts as a shield for those who value integrity.
8 God protects the paths of those who pursue justice,
watching over the lives of those who keep faith with Him.
9 With this wisdom you will be able to choose the right road,
seek justice, and decide what is good and fair
10 Because wisdom will penetrate deep within
and knowledge will become a good friend to your soul.
11 Sound judgment will stand guard over you,
and understanding will watch over you as the Lord promised.
12 Wisdom will keep you from following the way of evildoers,
of those who twist words to pervert the truth,
13 Of those who reject the right road
for a darker, more sinister way of life,
14 Of those who enjoy evil
and pursue perverse pleasures,
15 Of those who journey down a crooked path,
constantly figuring out new ways to trick and deceive others.
16 Wisdom will pluck you from the trap of a seductive woman,
from the enticing propositions of the adulteress
17 Who chose to leave the husband of her youth,
to forget her sacred promises to her God;
18 For her house is on the road that leads to death,
and her path goes down to the shadowy pit.
19 Those who go to her will never return;
they will never again find their way back to true life.
20 As for you, you should walk like those who are good
and keep to the paths of those who love justice,
21 For those who live right will remain in the land
and those with integrity will endure here.
22 But not the wicked; they will be forced out and banned from this promised land,
and those who deal in deceit will be plucked up like weeds.
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
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.