^{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!