1My son , if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee ; 2So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom , And apply thy heart to understanding ; 3Yea , if thou cry after discernment , And lift up thy voice for understanding ; 4If thou seek her as silver , And search for her as for hid treasures : 5Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah , And find the knowledge of God .
The Source of Wisdom
6For Jehovah giveth wisdom ; Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding : 7He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright ; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity ; 8That he may guard the paths of justice , And preserve the way of his saints .
The Protection of Wisdom
9Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice , And equity , yea , every good path . 10For wisdom shall enter into thy heart , And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul ; 11Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee:
The Consequences of Rejecting Wisdom
12To deliver thee from the way of evil , From the men that speak perverse things ; 13Who forsake the paths of uprightness , To walk in the ways of darkness ; 14Who rejoice to do evil , And delight in the perverseness of evil ; 15Who are crooked in their ways , And wayward in their paths : 16To deliver thee from the strange woman , Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; 17That forsaketh the friend of her youth , And forgetteth the covenant of her God: 18For her house inclineth unto death , And her paths unto the dead ; 19None that go unto her return again , Neither do they attain unto the paths of life : 20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men , And keep the paths of the righteous . 21For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it . 22But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it .