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Beni (my son), if thou wilt receive my words, and treasure my mitzvot with thee;

So that thou incline thine ear unto chochmah, and apply thine lev to tevunah (understanding);

Yea, if thou criest out after binah, and liftest up thy voice for tevunah (understanding)

If thou seekest her as kesef, and searchest for her as for matmonim (hidden treasures);

Then shalt thou understand the Yirat Hashem, and find the Da’as Elohim.

For Hashem giveth chochmah; out of His Peh (mouth) cometh da’as (knowledge) and tevunah (understanding).

He layeth up tushiyyah (wise Torah counsel) for the yesharim (upright ones); He is a mogen (shield) to them that walk in blamelessness.

He keepeth the orkhot mishpat, and is shomer over the derech of His Chasidim.

Then shalt thou understand tzedek, and mishpat, and mesharim (equity, fairness)‖every ma’agal tov (good path).

10 When chochmah entereth into thine lev, and da’as (knowledge) is pleasant unto thy nefesh;

11 Mezimah (discretion) shall be shomer over thee, tevunah (understanding) shall safeguard thee;

12 To save thee from the derech rah, from the ish medaber tahpukhot (man speaking perverse things);

13 Who leaving the orkhot yosher (paths of uprightness), walk in the drakhei choshech (ways of darkness);

14 Who rejoice to do rah, and delight in the tahpukhot (perverse things) of rah (evil);

15 Whose orkhot (paths) are crooked ones, and they are devious in their ma’agalot (paths);

16 To save thee from the isha zarah (strange woman), even from the nokhriyah (strange [immoral] woman) which useth smooth words;

17 Which forsaketh the alluf (companion, husband) of her youth, and forgetteth the brit (covenant) of her G-d.

18 For her bais inclineth toward mavet, and her ma’agalot (paths) to the refa’im (spirits of the dead).

19 None that go unto her return again, neither attain they to the orkhot chayyim (paths of life).

20 That thou mayest walk in the derech tovim, and be shomer over the orkhot tzaddikim (paths of the righteous).

21 For the yesharim (upright ones) shall dwell in the land, and the tamimim (blameless, faultless ones) shall remain in it.

22 But the resha’im shall be cut off from ha’aretz, and the bogedim (treacherous ones) shall be rooted out of it.

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

My son,(A) if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding(B)
indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
    and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.(E)
For the Lord gives wisdom;(F)
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(G)
He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield(H) to those whose walk is blameless,(I)
for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.(J)

Then you will understand(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.(M)

12 Wisdom will save(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(P)
15 whose paths are crooked(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.(R)

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(U)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.(V)

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked(X) will be cut off from the land,(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God