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Proverbs 2
Living Bible
Proverbs 2
Living Bible
2 1-2 Every young man who listens to me and obeys my instructions will be given wisdom and good sense. 3-5 Yes, if you want better insight and discernment, and are searching for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure, then wisdom will be given you and knowledge of God himself; you will soon learn the importance of reverence for the Lord and of trusting him.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. 7-8 He grants good sense to the godly—his saints. He is their shield, protecting them and guarding their pathway. 9 He shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to find the right decision every time. 10 For wisdom and truth will enter the very center of your being, filling your life with joy. 11-13 You will be given the sense to stay away from evil men who want you to be their partners in crime—men who turn from God’s ways to walk down dark and evil paths 14 and exult in doing wrong, for they thoroughly enjoy their sins. 15 Everything they do is crooked and wrong.
16-17 Only wisdom from the Lord can save a man from the flattery of prostitutes; these girls have abandoned their husbands and flouted the laws of God. 18 Their houses lie along the road to death and hell. 19 The men who enter them are doomed. None of these men will ever be the same again.[a]
20 Follow the steps of the godly instead, and stay on the right path, 21 for only good men enjoy life to the full;[b] 22 evil men lose the good things they might have had,[c] and they themselves shall be destroyed.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:19 will ever be the same again, literally, “will ever return to the ways of life.”
- Proverbs 2:21 enjoy life to the full, literally, “shall dwell in the land.”
- Proverbs 2:22 lose the good things they might have had, literally, “shall be cut off from the land.”
Proverbs 2
New International Version
Proverbs 2
New International Version
Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 My son,(A) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding(B)—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(E)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)
9 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)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God
Proverbs 2
King James Version
Proverbs 2
King James Version
2 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.