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The Benefit of Wisdom

My son,
    if you take my words to heart
        and treasure my commands within you,
if you pay close attention to wisdom,
    and let your mind reach for understanding,
if indeed you call out for insight,
    if you ask aloud for understanding,
if you search for wisdom as if it were money
    and hunt for it as if it were hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of Yahweh
    and you will find the knowledge of Elohim.
Yahweh gives wisdom.
    From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He has reserved priceless wisdom for decent people.
    He is a Magen for those who walk in integrity
in order to guard those on paths of justice
    and to watch over the way of his godly ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—
    every good course in life.

10 Wisdom will come into your heart.
    Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Foresight will protect you.
    Understanding will guard you.

12 Wisdom will save you
    from the way of evil,
        from the person who speaks devious things,
13 from those who abandon the paths of righteousness
    to walk the ways of darkness,
14 from those who enjoy doing evil,
    from those who find joy in the deviousness of evil.
15 Their paths are crooked.
    Their ways are devious.

16 Wisdom will also save you
    from an adulterous woman,
        from a loose woman with her smooth talk,
17 who leaves her husband, the closest friend of her youth,
    and forgets her marriage vows to her Elohim.
18 Her house sinks down to death.
    Her ways lead to the souls of the dead.
19 None who have sex with her come back.
    Nor do they ever reach the paths of life.

20 So walk in the way of good people
    and stay on the paths of righteous people.
21 Decent people will live in the land.
    People of integrity will remain in it.
22 But wicked people will be cut off from the land
    and treacherous people will be torn[a] from it.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:22 Or “will be swept away.”

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

My son,(A) if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding(B)
indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
    and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.(E)
For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)

Then you will understand(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.(M)

12 Wisdom will save(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(P)
15 whose paths are crooked(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.(R)

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(U)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.(V)

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked(X) will be cut off from the land,(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God