^{1 Ref} My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee,

^{2 Ref} To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,

^{3 Ref} For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,

^{4 Ref} If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her,

^{5 Ref} Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest.

^{6 Ref} For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.

^{7 Ref} Even to lay up for the upright substance, A shield for those walking uprightly.

^{8 Ref} To keep the paths of judgment, And the way of His saints He preserveth.

^{9 Ref} Then understandest thou righteousness, And judgment, and uprightness -- every good path.

^{10 Ref} For wisdom cometh into thy heart, And knowledge to thy soul is pleasant,

^{11 Ref} Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,

^{12 Ref} To deliver thee from an evil way, From any speaking froward things,

^{13 Ref} Who are forsaking paths of uprightness, To walk in ways of darkness,

^{14 Ref} Who are rejoicing to do evil, They delight in frowardness of the wicked,

^{15 Ref} Whose paths `are' crooked, Yea, they are perverted in their ways.

^{16 Ref} To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings,

^{17 Ref} Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten.

^{18 Ref} For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.

^{19 Ref} None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

^{20 Ref} That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep.

^{21 Ref} For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it,

^{22 Ref} And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it!

^{1 Ref} My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

^{2 Ref} So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;

^{3 Ref} Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

^{4 Ref} If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;

^{5 Ref} Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.

^{6 Ref} For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:

^{7 Ref} He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;

^{8 Ref} He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him.

^{9 Ref} Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.

^{10 Ref} For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;

^{11 Ref} Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

^{12 Ref} Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;

^{13 Ref} Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;

^{14 Ref} Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner;

^{15 Ref} Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:

^{16 Ref} To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue;

^{17 Ref} Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

^{18 Ref} For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:

^{19 Ref} Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:

^{20 Ref} So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.

^{21 Ref} For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.

^{22 Ref} But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.