1My son,
if thou
wilt receive
my words,
and hide
my commandments
with thee;
2So that thou
incline thine ear
unto wisdom, and
apply thine heart
to understanding;
3Yea,
if thou criest
after knowledge,
and liftest up
thy voice
for understanding;
4If thou seekest
her as silver, and
searchest for her
as for hid treasures;
5Then shalt thou understand
the fear
of the LORD,
and find the knowledge
of God.
6For the LORD
giveth wisdom:
out
of his mouth
cometh knowledge
and understanding.
7He layeth up
sound wisdom
for
the righteous:
he is a buckler
to them
that walk uprightly.
8He keepeth
the paths
of
judgment, and
preserveth
the way
of his saints.
9Then
shalt thou understand
righteousness, and
judgment, and
equity;
yea,
every good path.
10When wisdom
entereth
into thine heart, and
knowledge is pleasant
unto thy soul;
11Discretion
shall preserve thee,
understanding
shall
keep thee:
12To deliver thee
from the way
of the evil man,
from the man
that speaketh
froward things;
13Who leave
the paths
of
uprightness,
to walk
in the ways
of darkness;
14Who rejoice
to do evil, and
delight
in the frowardness
of the wicked;
15Whose ways
are crooked, and
they froward
in their paths:
16To deliver thee
from the strange woman,
even from the stranger
which flattereth
with her words;
17Which forsaketh
the guide
of her youth, and
forgetteth the covenant
of her God.
18For
her house
inclineth
unto death, and
her paths
unto the dead.
19None that go
unto her
return again,
neither take they
hold of
the paths
of life.
20That thou
mayest walk
in the way
of good men, and
keep the paths
of the righteous.
21For
the upright
shall dwell
in the land, and
the perfect
shall remain
in it.
22But the wicked
shall be
cut off
from the earth, and
the transgressors
shall be rooted
out of it.