1Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee;
2That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding!
3For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding,—
4If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures,
5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:
7He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly:
8He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants.
9Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.
10When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,
11Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee.
12It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;
13Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;
14Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;
15Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways.
16It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words;
17Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead:
19None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life.
20Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous:
21For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;
22But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.