Yahweh Gives Wisdom
My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2 To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,
Incline your heart to discernment;
3 For if you call out for understanding,
Give your voice for discernment;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For Yahweh gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and discernment.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright,
A shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 To guard the paths of justice,
And He keeps the way of His holy ones.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
And equity—every good track.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will keep you,
Discernment will guard you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
13 From those who forsake the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who are glad to do evil
And they rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their tracks;
16 To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the foreign woman who flatters with her words;
17 Who forsakes the close companion of her youth
And forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house sinks down to death
And her tracks descend to the dead;
19 All who go to her will not return,
And they will not reach the paths of life.
20 So that you will walk in the way of good men
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous will be torn away from it.
Trust, Fear, and Honor Yahweh
My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart guard my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
3 Do not let lovingkindness and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good insight
In the eyes of God and man.
5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor Yahweh from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will burst with new wine.
11 My son, do not reject the discipline of Yahweh
Or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom Yahweh loves He reproves,
Even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.
13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who obtains discernment.
14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver
And her produce better than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than pearls;
And nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and glory.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her pathways are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who seize her,
And all those who hold her fast are blessed.
19 Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth,
By discernment He established the heavens.
20 By His knowledge the deeps were split up
And the skies drip with dew.
21 My son, let them not deviate from your eyes;
Guard sound wisdom and discretion,
22 So they will be life for your soul
And grace for your neck.
23 Then you will walk in your way securely
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be in dread;
You will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden dread
Nor of the storm of the wicked when it comes;
26 For Yahweh will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your hand to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When it is there with you.
29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has dealt you no harm.
31 Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.
32 For the devious one is an abomination to Yahweh;
But His secret council is with the upright.
33 The curse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked one,
But He blesses the abode of the righteous.
34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise will inherit glory,
But fools raise up disgrace.