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he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,(A)
guarding the paths of justice
    and preserving the way of his faithful ones.(B)
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path,(C)
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 prudence will watch over you,
    and understanding will guard you.
12 It will save you from the way of evil,
    from those who speak perversely,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness,(D)
14 who rejoice in doing evil
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,(E)
15 those whose paths are crooked
    and who are devious in their ways.(F)

16 You will be saved from the loose woman,[a]
    from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words,(G)
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
    and forgets her sacred covenant,
18 for her way[c] leads down to death
    and her paths to the shades;(H)
19 those who go to her never come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

20 Therefore walk in the way of the good,
    and keep to the paths of the just.
21 For the upright will abide in the land,
    and the innocent will remain in it,(I)
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.16 Heb strange woman
  2. 2.16 Heb alien woman
  3. 2.18 Cn: Heb house

20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(A)
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.(B)
22 When you walk, they[a] will lead you;
    when you lie down, they[b] will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they[c] will talk with you.(C)
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,(D)
24 to preserve you from the wife of another,[d]
    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[e](E)

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Footnotes

  1. 6.22 Heb it
  2. 6.22 Heb it
  3. 6.22 Heb it
  4. 6.24 Gk: MT the evil woman
  5. 6.24 Heb alien woman

The False Attractions of Adultery

My child, keep my words
    and store up my commandments with you;(A)
keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teachings as the apple[a] of your eye;(B)
bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.(C)
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
that they may keep you from the loose woman,[b]
    from the adulteress[c] with her smooth words.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 7.2 Heb little man
  2. 7.5 Heb strange woman
  3. 7.5 Heb alien woman

19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
    but the prudent are restrained in speech.(A)

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The talk of fools is a rod for their backs,[a]
    but the lips of the wise preserve them.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 14.3 Cn: Heb a rod of pride

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
    the righteous run into it and are safe.(A)

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23 To watch over mouth and tongue
    is to keep out of trouble.(A)

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Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
    the cautious will keep far from them.(A)

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24 Make no friends with those given to anger,
    and do not associate with hotheads,
25 lest you learn their ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.

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