Proverbs

2 My son, if thou wilt receive my sayings, And my commandments wilt treasure up by thee;

2 So that thou Direct unto wisdom thine ear, Bend thy heart unto understanding;

3 Yea if for understanding thou cry aloud, For knowledge utter thy voice;

4 If thou seek her as silver, And like hid treasure thou search for her

5 Then shalt thou understand the reverence of Yahweh, And the knowledge of God shalt thou find.

6 For Yahweh giveth wisdom, Out of his mouth knowledge and understanding;

7 Yea he treasureth for the upright safety, A shield [is he] to them who walk in integrity.

8 To him that observeth the paths of justice, Yea the way of his men of lovingkindness he doth guard.

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity—every noble course.

10 When wisdom entereth thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is sweet.

11 Discretion shall watch over thee, Understanding shall preserve thee:—

12 To rescue thee from the way of the wrongful, From the man that speaketh perverse things;

13 From them who forsake the paths of rectitude, To walk in the ways of darkness;

14 Who rejoice to do wrong, Exult in the perversities of the wrongful;

15 Whose paths are twisted, And they are tortuous in their tracks:

16 To rescue thee from the woman that is a stranger, From the female unknown who with her speeches seduceth;

17 Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten;

18 For she hath appointed unto death her house, And unto the shades her courses;

19 None who go in unto her come back, Neither attain they unto the paths of life:

20 To the end that thou walk in the way of good men, And the paths of the righteous that thou observe.

21 For the upright shall abide on the earth,—And the men of integrity shall remain therein;

22 But the lawless out of the earth shall be cut off, And traitors shall they tear away therefrom.