Proverbs 2

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

1My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

2turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
...
3and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

4and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

6For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

8for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

9Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

10For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

11Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,

13who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,

14who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

15whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.

16It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

17who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.a

18For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

19None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.

20Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;

22but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.