[1] My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
[2] Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
[3] Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
[4] Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
[5] Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.
[6] For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
[7] He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
[8] He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.
[9] Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.
[10] For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.
[11] Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
[12] Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
[13] These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
[14] They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
[15] Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.
[16] Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
[17] She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
[18] Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
[19] The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.
[20] So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
[21] For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
[22] But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.