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2:1  My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,
2:2  So that your ear is attentive to [skillful and godly] wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding [seeking it conscientiously and striving for it eagerly];
2:3  Yes, if you cry out for insight, And lift up your voice for understanding;
2:4  If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver And search for her as you would hidden treasures;
2:5  Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] And discover the knowledge of God.
2:6  For the Lord gives [skillful and godly] wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
2:7  He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him]; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage],
2:8  He guards the paths of justice; And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).
2:9  Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance] And integrity and every good path.
2:10  For [skillful and godly] wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
2:11  Discretion will watch over you, Understanding and discernment will guard you,
2:12  To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man, From the man who speaks perverse things;
2:13  From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;
2:14  Who find joy in doing evil And delight in the perversity of evil,
2:15  Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;
2:16  To keep you from the immoral woman; From the seductress with her flattering words,
2:17  Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
2:18  For her house leads down to death And her paths lead to the dead;
2:19  None who go to her return again, Nor do they regain the paths of life—
2:20  So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character], And keep to the paths of the righteous.
2:21  For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it;
2:22  But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.