Proverbs
2 My son, if you take what I say
and lay up my commands in your mind,
2 Giving a listening ear to wisdom
and directing your heart to intelligence,
3 If you call up discretion
and to intelligence you raise your voice,
4 If you hunt for it as you would for silver
and search for it as you would for buried treasure,
5 Then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah
and find the knowledge of God,
6 Because Jehovah gives wisdom;
out of his mouth come knowledge and intelligence;
7 He lays away sensible ideas for the upright,
shields those who walk conscientiously,
8 Protecting law-abiding ways
and guarding the road of the men of his friendship;
9 Then you shall understand right and justice
and fair dealing, every good line,
10 Because wisdom shall come into your heart
and knowledge be delicious to your soul;
11 Good judgment shall guard you,
intelligence shall keep you,
12 Delivering you from a bad course,
from men who talk mischief,
13 Those who leave straightforward ways
to go on roads of darkness,
15 Whose ways are crooked
and they take dodging roads;
16 Delivering you from a stranger woman,
a smooth-talking foreigner,
17 That leaves the mate of her girlhood
and forgets the covenant of her god,
19 Any who go in to her will never come back
nor reach the ways to life,—
20 In order that you may walk in good men’s path
and keep to honest men’s ways,
21 Because straightforward men will people earth
and conscientious men remain in it,
22 But wrong-doers will be extirpated from earth
and faithless men torn out from it.