Proverbs 2
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Proverbs 2
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| My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee; | My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind; |
| So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding; | So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge; |
| Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding; | Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge; |
| If thou seek her as silver, And search for her as for hid treasures: | If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth; |
| Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God. | Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours. |
| For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding: | For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason: |
| He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; [He is] a shield to them that walk in integrity; | He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil; |
| That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints. | He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him. |
| Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, [yea], every good path. | Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way. |
| For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; | For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul; |
| Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee: | Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you; |
| To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things; | Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false; |
| Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; | Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads; |
| Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil; | Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner; |
| Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths: | Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil: |
| To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; | To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue; |
| That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God: | Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind: |
| For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead; | For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades: |
| None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: | Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life: |
| That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous. | So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright. |
| For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. | For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage. |
| But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. | But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted. |
