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