⁷ 
He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him];
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage],
⁸ 
He guards the paths of justice;
And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).^(A)
9 
Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance]
And integrity and every good path.
¹⁰ 
For [skillful and godly] wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ 
Discretion will watch over you,
Understanding and discernment will guard you,
¹² 
To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
¹³ 
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
¹⁴ 
Who find joy in doing evil
And delight in the perversity of evil,
¹⁵ 
Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
¹⁶ 
To keep you from the immoral woman;
From the seductress with her flattering words,^(B)
17 
Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
¹⁸ 
For her house leads down to death
And her paths lead to the dead;
¹⁹ 
None who go to her return again,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
²⁰ 
So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character],
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ 
For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land
And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it;
²² 
But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.

7 My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].
² 
Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.
³ 
Bind them [securely] on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ 
Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;
⁵ 
That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the foreigner [who does not observe God’s laws and] who flatters with her [smooth] words.

³ 
In the mouth of the [arrogant] ^[a]fool [who rejects God] is a rod for his back,
But the lips of the wise [when they speak with godly wisdom] will protect them.

¹⁰ 
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs to it and is safe and set on high [far above evil].

²³ 
He who guards his mouth and his tongue
Guards himself from troubles.^(A)

⁵ 
Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them];
He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.