2:1 My son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee, |
2:2 so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom [and] thou apply thy heart to understanding; |
2:3 yea, if thou criest after discernment [and] liftest up thy voice to understanding; |
2:4 if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures: |
2:5 then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God. |
2:6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth [come] knowledge and understanding. |
2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; [he] is a shield to them that walk in integrity; |
2:8 guarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones. |
2:9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path. |
2:10 When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, |
2:11 discretion shall keep thee, understanding shall preserve thee: |
2:12 To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the man that speaketh froward things; |
2:13 [from those] who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; |
2:14 who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight in the frowardness of evil; |
2:15 whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course: |
2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words; |
2:17 who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God; |
2:18 -- for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead; |
2:19 none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life: |
2:20 -- that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, and keep the paths of the righteous. |
2:21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it; |
2:22 but the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it. |