Searching for Wisdom

¹My child, will you treasure my wisdom?

Then, and only then, will you acquire it.

And only if you accept my advice

and hide it within will you succeed.

²So train your heart to listen when I speak

and open your spirit wide to expand your discernment—

then pass it on to your sons and daughters.

³Yes, cry out for comprehension and intercede for insight.

⁴For if you keep seeking it like a man would seek for sterling silver,

searching in hidden places for cherished treasure,

⁵then you will discover the fear of the Lord

and find the true knowledge of God.

⁶Wisdom is a gift from a generous God,

and every word he speaks is full of revelation

and becomes a fountain of understanding within you.

^7-8For the Lord has a hidden storehouse of wisdom

made accessible to his godly ones.

He becomes your personal bodyguard as you follow his ways,

protecting and guarding you as you choose what is right.

⁹Then you will discover all that is just, proper, and fair,

and be empowered to make the right decisions

as you walk into your destiny.

¹⁰When wisdom wins your heart and revelation breaks in,

true pleasure enters your soul.

¹¹If you choose to follow good counsel,

divine design will watch over you

and understanding will protect you

from making poor choices.

¹²It will rescue you from evil in disguise

and from those who speak duplicities.

¹³For they have left the paths of righteousness

and walk in the ways of darkness.

¹⁴They take pleasure when evil prospers

and thoroughly enjoy a lifestyle of sin.

¹⁵But they’re walking on a path to nowhere,

wandering away into deeper deception.

Wisdom, the Way of the Pure

¹⁶Only wisdom can save you from the flattery

of the promiscuous woman—

she’s such a smooth-talking seductress!

¹⁷She left her husband and has forgotten her wedding vows.[#2:17 Clearly this is a warning to those who would commit adultery, but there is a deeper meaning within this text. Proverbs tells us of two women: the adulteress and the virtuous woman of Prov. 31. Both women speak a parable of two systems in the church. One is religious and alluring, tempting the young anointed ones to come to her “bed” of compromise (see Mark 7:13). The other is the holy bride, virtuous and pure, keeping her first love (“wedding vows”) for Christ alone. Her “house” is the house of the Lord (see Prov. 2:18). One system brings shame and despair; the other brings favor, honor, and glory. It is wisdom that protects us from one and unites us to the other. See Jer. 50–52 and Rev. 17–18.]

¹⁸You’ll find her house on the road to hell,

¹⁹and all the men who go through her doors

will never come back to the place they were—

they will find nothing but desolation and despair.

²⁰Follow those who follow wisdom and stay on the right path.

²¹For all my godly lovers will enjoy life to the fullest

and will inherit their destinies.

²²But the treacherous ones who love darkness

will lose not only all they could have had,

but even their own souls!