Wisdom’s Worth

1My son, if you accept my wordsa

and store up my commands within you,

2listening closelyb to wisdom

and directing your heart to understanding;

3furthermore, if you call out to insight

and lift your voice to understanding,

4if you seek it like silver

and search for it like hidden treasure,c

5then you will understand the •fear of the LORD

and discover the knowledge of God.

6For the LORD gives wisdom;

from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.d

7He stores up successe for the upright;

He is a shield for those who live with integrityf

8so that He may guard the paths of justice

and protect the way of His loyal followers.g

9Then you will understand righteousness, justice,

and integrity — every good path.

10For wisdom will enter your mind,

and knowledge will delight your heart.

11Discretion will watch over you,

and understanding will guard you,h

12rescuing you from the way of evil —

from the one who says perverse things,

13from those who abandon the right paths

to walk in ways of darkness,i

14from those who enjoy doing evilj

and celebrate perversion,

15whose paths are crooked,k

and whose ways are devious.l

16It will rescue you from a forbidden woman,m

from a strangern with her flattering talk,o

17who abandons the companion of her youthp

and forgets the covenant of her God;

18for her house sinks down to death

and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.q

19None return who go to her;

none reach the paths of life.r

20So follow the way of good people,s

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21For the upright will inhabit the land,

and those of integrity will remain in it;t

22but the wicked will be cut off from the land,u

and the treacherous uprooted from it.v