| Chapter 2 |
1 |
My son, if thou receivest my words, and layest up my commandments with thee, |
2 |
so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and thou apply thy heart to understanding; |
3 |
yea, if thou criest after discernment and liftest up thy voice to understanding; |
4 |
if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasures: |
5 |
then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God. |
6 |
For Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding. |
7 |
He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to them that walk in integrity; |
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guarding the paths of just judgment and keeping the way of his godly ones. |
9 |
Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity: every good path. |
10 |
When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, |
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discretion shall keep thee, understanding shall preserve thee: |
12 |
To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the man that speaketh froward things; |
13 |
from those 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 evil; |
15 |
whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course: |
16 |
To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words; |
17 |
who 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 do they attain to the paths of life: |
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-- that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, 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 land, and the unfaithful shall be plucked up out of it. |