The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security
2 My son, if you will (A)receive my words
And (B)treasure my commandments within you,
2 (C)Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
[a]Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as (D)silver
And search for her as for (E)hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the (F)fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For (G)the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a (H)shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He (I)preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern (J)righteousness and justice
And equity and every (K)good course.
10 For (L)wisdom will enter your heart
And (M)knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will (N)guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
12 To (O)deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks (P)perverse things;
13 From those who (Q)leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the (R)ways of darkness;
14 Who (S)delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are (T)crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
16 To (U)deliver you from the strange woman,
From the [b](V)adulteress who flatters with her words;
17 That leaves the (W)companion of her youth
And forgets the (X)covenant of her God;
18 For (Y)her house [c]sinks down to death
And her tracks lead to the [d]dead;
19 None (Z)who go to her return again,
Nor do they reach the (AA)paths of life.
20 So you will (AB)walk in the way of good men
And keep to the (AC)paths of the righteous.
21 For (AD)the upright will [e]live in the land
And (AE)the blameless will remain in it;
22 But (AF)the wicked will be cut off from the land
And (AG)the treacherous will be (AH)uprooted from it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:3 Lit Give
- Proverbs 2:16 Lit strange woman
- Proverbs 2:18 Lit bows down
- Proverbs 2:18 Lit departed spirits
- Proverbs 2:21 Or dwell
Cross references
- Proverbs 2:1 : Prov 4:10
- Proverbs 2:1 : Prov 3:1
- Proverbs 2:2 : Prov 22:17
- Proverbs 2:4 : Prov 3:14
- Proverbs 2:4 : Job 3:21; Matt 13:44
- Proverbs 2:5 : Prov 1:7
- Proverbs 2:6 : 1 Kin 3:12; Job 32:8; James 1:5
- Proverbs 2:7 : Ps 84:11; Prov 30:5
- Proverbs 2:8 : 1 Sam 2:9; Ps 66:9
- Proverbs 2:9 : Prov 8:20
- Proverbs 2:9 : Prov 4:18
- Proverbs 2:10 : Prov 14:33
- Proverbs 2:10 : Prov 22:18
- Proverbs 2:11 : Prov 4:6; 6:22
- Proverbs 2:12 : Prov 28:26
- Proverbs 2:12 : Prov 6:12
- Proverbs 2:13 : Prov 21:16
- Proverbs 2:13 : Ps 82:5; Prov 4:19; John 3:19, 20
- Proverbs 2:14 : Prov 10:23; Jer 11:15
- Proverbs 2:15 : Ps 125:5; Prov 21:8
- Proverbs 2:16 : Prov 6:24; 7:5
- Proverbs 2:16 : Prov 23:27
- Proverbs 2:17 : Mal 2:14, 15
- Proverbs 2:17 : Gen 2:24
- Proverbs 2:18 : Prov 7:27
- Proverbs 2:19 : Eccl 7:26
- Proverbs 2:19 : Ps 16:11; Prov 5:6
- Proverbs 2:20 : Heb 6:12
- Proverbs 2:20 : Prov 4:18
- Proverbs 2:21 : Ps 37:9, 29; Prov 10:30
- Proverbs 2:21 : Prov 28:10
- Proverbs 2:22 : Ps 37:38; Prov 10:30
- Proverbs 2:22 : Prov 11:3
- Proverbs 2:22 : Deut 28:63; Ps 52:5