Pro 2 | ASV | e4.org | My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee;

‏ Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee; 2 So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy 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 Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding: 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; ^▼▼1 He is a shield to them that walk in integrity; ^{▼▼1) Or, And a shield for etc} 8 ^▼▼1 That he may guard the paths of justice, ^▼▼2 And preserve the way of his saints. ^{▼▼1) Or That they may keep 2) Or Yea, he preserveth} 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, yea , every good path.

10 For wisdom shall enter into thy 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 ^▼▼1 evil, From the men that speak perverse things; ^{▼▼1) Or the evil man} 13 Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of ^▼▼1 evil; ^{▼▼1) Or the evil man} 15 Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths: 16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that ^▼▼1 flattereth with her words; ^{▼▼1) Heb maketh smooth her words} 17 That forsaketh the ^▼▼1 friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God: ^{▼▼1) Or guide} 18 For ^▼▼1 her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto ^▼▼2 the dead; ^{▼▼1) Or she sinketh down unto death, which is her house 2) Or the shades ; Heb Rephaim} 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 ^▼▼1 land, And the perfect shall remain in it. ^{▼▼1) Or earth} 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, ^▼▼1 And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. ^{▼▼1) Or earth}