Proverbs 2
1MY son [Solomon again speaks], if thou wilt hear the counsel which I enjoin and hide it with thee,
2thine ear will hearken to wisdom; and thou wilt apply thy heart to understanding, and transmit it for instruction to thy son.
3For if thou wilt call upon wisdom: and utter thy voice for understanding—
4if thou wilt seek for it as silver; and search for it as for treasures;
5then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord; and find the knowledge of God.
6For the Lord giveth wisdom; and from His presence is knowledge and understanding:
7and He treasureth up salvation for the upright.
8He will protect their going, that they may keep the paths of rectitude. And He will guard the way of them who reverence Him.
9Then thou shalt understand judgment and justice; and direct all thy ways aright.
10For when wisdom entereth into thine understanding, and knowledge appeareth
11pleasant to thy soul, good counsel will keep thee and holy prudence will guard thee:
12that she may deliver thee from an evil way and from a man who speaketh perversely.
13Alas for them who leave straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness;
14who are delighted with evils and have joy in evil perversion;
15whose ways are crooked, and whose paths turn aside to lead thee far from the straight road
16and estrange thee from a just determination.
17My son, let not evil counsel, who hath forsaken the discipline of youth and hath forgotten the divine covenant, take hold of thee.
18For she hath placed her house near death; and her wheels with the earth born near the mansion of the dead.
19None who walk by her direction can ever return; nor ever recover the right paths.
20For they are not taken hold of by years of life. If they indeed had walked in good ways: they would have found the paths of justice smooth.
21For the upright shall inhabit the land, and the holy shall be left in it;
22the ways of the wicked shall be destroyed from the land, and the transgressors shall be driven out of it.