⁹ Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
    and you will find the right way to go.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will fill you with joy.
¹¹ Wise choices will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you safe.

¹² Wisdom will save you from evil people,
    from those whose words are twisted.
¹³ These men turn from the right way
    to walk down dark paths.
¹⁴ They take pleasure in doing wrong,
    and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
¹⁵ Their actions are crooked,
    and their ways are wrong.

¹⁶ Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
    from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
¹⁷ She has abandoned her husband
    and ignores the covenant she made before God.
¹⁸ Entering her house leads to death;
    it is the road to the grave.^[a]
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
    He will never reach the paths of life.

²⁰ So follow the steps of the good,
    and stay on the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For only the godly will live in the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it.
²² But the wicked will be removed from the land,
    and the treacherous will be uprooted.

²⁰ My son, obey your father’s commands,
    and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
²¹ Keep their words always in your heart.
    Tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
    When you sleep, they will protect you.
    When you wake up, they will advise you.
²³ For their command is a lamp
    and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
    is the way to life.
²⁴ It will keep you from the immoral woman,
    from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

⁴ Love wisdom like a sister;
    make insight a beloved member of your family.
⁵ Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
    from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

¹⁹ Too much talk leads to sin.
    Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

³ A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him,
    but the words of the wise keep them safe.