| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, | 1My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, |
| 2So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; | 2making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; |
| 3Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, | 3yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, |
| 4If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; | 4if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, |
| 5Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. | 5then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. |
| 6For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; | 6For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; |
| 7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; | 7he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, |
| 8He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. | 8guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. |
| 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. | 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; |
| 10When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, | 10for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; |
| 11Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, | 11discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, |
| 12To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, | 12delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, |
| 13From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; | 13who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, |
| 14Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; | 14who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, |
| 15Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; | 15men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. |
| 16To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, | 16So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, |
| 17Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. | 17who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; |
| 18For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; | 18for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; |
| 19None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— | 19none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. |
| 20So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. | 20So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. |
| 21For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; | 21For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, |
| 22But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. | 22but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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