¹My son, if you will receive my words

and store my commands inside you,

²paying attention to wisdom

inclining your mind toward understanding —

³yes, if you will call for insight

and raise your voice for discernment,

⁴if you seek it as you would silver

and search for it as for hidden treasure —

⁵then you will understand the fear of Adonai

and find knowledge of God.

⁶For Adonai gives wisdom;

from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up common sense for the upright,

is a shield to those whose conduct is blameless,

⁸in order to guard the courses of justice

and preserve the way of those faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness, justice,

fairness and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart,

knowledge will be enjoyable for you,

¹¹discretion will watch over you,

and discernment will guard you.

¹²They will save you from the way of evil

and from those who speak deceitfully,

¹³who leave the paths of honesty

to walk the ways of darkness,

¹⁴who delight in doing evil

and take joy in being stubbornly deceitful,

¹⁵from those whose tracks are twisted

and whose paths are perverse.

¹⁶They will save you from a woman who is a stranger,

from a loose woman with smooth talk,

¹⁷who abandons the ruler she had in her youth

and forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸Her house is sinking toward death,

her paths lead to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return;

they never regain the path to life.

²⁰Thus you will walk on the way of good people

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will live in the land,

the pure-hearted will remain there;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

the unfaithful rooted out of it.