Proverbs 2:1-19 ▼

1 My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;

3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;

4 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth [come] knowledge and understanding.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; [He is] a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity [and] every good course.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you,

12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things;

13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

16 To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words;

17 That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God;

18 For her house sinks down to death And her tracks [lead] to the dead;

19 None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life.