2 1 Wisdom exhorteth to obey her. 5 She teacheth the fear of God. 6 She is given of God. 10 She preserveth from wickedness.
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and [a]hide my commandments within thee,
2 And cause thine ears to hearken unto wisdom, and incline [b]thine heart to understanding,
3 (For if thou callest after knowledge, [c]and cryest for understanding:
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for [d]treasures,
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the [e]knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He [f]preserveth the state of the righteous, he is a shield to them that walk uprightly,
8 That they may keep the ways of judgment: and he preserveth the way of his Saints).
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment, and equity, and every good path.
10 ¶ When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge delighteth thy soul,
11 Then shall [g]counsel preserve thee, and understanding shall keep thee,
12 And deliver thee from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh froward things,
13 And from them that leave the [h]ways of righteousness to walk in the ways of darkness:
14 Which rejoice in doing evil, and delight [i]in the frowardness of the wicked,
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they are lewd in their paths.
16 And it shall deliver thee from the strange [j]woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
17 Which forsaketh the [k]guide of her youth, and forgetteth the [l]covenant of her God.
18 Surely her [m]house tendeth to death, and her paths unto [n]the dead.
19 All they that go unto her, return not again, neither take they hold of the ways of life.
20 Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, and keep the ways of the righteous.
21 For the just shall dwell in the [o]land, and the upright men shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressor shall be rooted out of it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:1 That is, keep them in thine heart.
- Proverbs 2:2 If thou give thyself to the true knowledge of God without hypocrisy.
- Proverbs 2:3 Meaning, that we must seek the knowledge of God with care and diligence.
- Proverbs 2:4 Showing that no labor must be spared.
- Proverbs 2:5 This (saith he) is the true wisdom, to know and fear God.
- Proverbs 2:7 Or, hideth the salvation.
- Proverbs 2:11 The word of God shall teach thee, and counsel thee how to govern thyself.
- Proverbs 2:13 That is, the word of God, which is the only light, to follow their own fantasies which are darkness.
- Proverbs 2:14 When they see any given to evil as they are.
- Proverbs 2:16 Meaning, that wisdom which is the word of God, shall preserve us from all vices: naming this vice of whoredom whereunto man is most prone.
- Proverbs 2:17 That is, her husband, which is her head and guide to govern her, from whom she ought not to depart, but remain in his subjection.
- Proverbs 2:17 Which is the promise made in marriage.
- Proverbs 2:18 Her acquaintance with her familiars, and them that haunt her.
- Proverbs 2:18 To them that are dead in body and soul.
- Proverbs 2:21 They shall enjoy the temporal and spiritual promises of God, as the wicked shall be void of them.