| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, | 1My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, |
| 2So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; | 2turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding-- |
| 3Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, | 3indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, |
| 4If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; | 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. | 5then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. |
| 6For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; | 6For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. |
| 7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; | 7He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, |
| 8He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. | 8for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. |
| 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. | 9Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path. |
| 10When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, | 10For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. |
| 11Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, | 11Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. |
| 12To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, | 12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, |
| 13From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; | 13who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, |
| 14Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; | 14who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, |
| 15Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; | 15whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. |
| 16To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, | 16Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, |
| 17Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. | 17who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. |
| 18For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; | 18Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. |
| 19None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— | 19None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. |
| 20So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. | 20Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. |
| 21For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; | 21For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; |
| 22But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. | 22but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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