| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, | 1My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you, |
| 2So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; | 2by making your ear attentive to wisdom, and by turning your heart to understanding, |
| 3Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, | 3indeed, if you call out for discernment--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 like hidden treasure, |
| 5Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. | 5then you will understand how to fear the LORD, and you will discover knowledge about God. |
| 6For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; | 6For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. |
| 7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; | 7He stores up effective counsel for the upright, and is like a shield for those who live with integrity, |
| 8He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. | 8to guard the paths of the righteous and to protect the way of his pious ones. |
| 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. | 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity--every good way. |
| 10When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, | 10For wisdom will enter your heart, and moral knowledge will be attractive to you. |
| 11Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, | 11Discretion will protect you, understanding will guard you, |
| 12To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, | 12to deliver you from the way of the wicked, from those speaking perversity, |
| 13From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; | 13who leave the upright paths to walk on the dark ways, |
| 14Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; | 14who delight in doing evil, they rejoice in perverse evil; |
| 15Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; | 15whose paths are morally crooked, and who are devious in their ways; |
| 16To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, | 16to deliver you from the adulteress, from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words; |
| 17Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. | 17who leaves the husband from her younger days, and forgets her marriage covenant made before God. |
| 18For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; | 18For her house sinks down to death, and her paths lead to the place of the departed spirits. |
| 19None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— | 19None who go in to her will return, nor will they reach 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 good people, and will keep on the paths of the righteous. |
| 21For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; | 21For the upright will reside in 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 removed from the land, and the treacherous will be torn away from it. |
|
