Proverbs 2-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Value of Wisdom
2 My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,(A)
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding,
3 if you indeed cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures—(B)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(C)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;(D)
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,(E)
8 guarding the paths of justice
and preserving the way of his faithful ones.(F)
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path,(G)
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 prudence will watch over you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 It will save you from the way of evil,
from those who speak perversely,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,(H)
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,(I)
15 those whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.(J)
16 You will be saved from the loose woman,[a]
from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words,(K)
17 who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets her sacred covenant,
18 for her way[c] leads down to death
and her paths to the shades;(L)
19 those who go to her never come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 Therefore walk in the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the just.
21 For the upright will abide in the land,
and the innocent will remain in it,(M)
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.(N)
Admonition to Trust and Honor God
3 My child, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,(O)
2 for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare they will give you.(P)
3 Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.(Q)
4 Then you will find favor and high regard
in the sight of God and of people.(R)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.(S)
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.(T)
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil.(U)
8 It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.(V)
9 Honor the Lord with your substance
and with the first fruits of all your produce;(W)
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
11 My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,(X)
12 for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.(Y)
The True Wealth
13 Happy are those who find wisdom
and those who get understanding,
14 for her income is better than silver
and her revenue better than gold.(Z)
15 She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.(AA)
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.(AB)
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.(AC)
18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called happy.(AD)
God’s Wisdom in Creation
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;(AE)
20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.(AF)
The True Security
21 My child, do not let these escape from your sight:
keep sound wisdom and prudence,
22 and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.(AG)
23 Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.(AH)
24 If you sit down,[d] you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Then you will not be afraid of sudden panic
or of the storm that strikes the wicked,(AI)
26 for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[e]
when it is in your power to do it.(AJ)
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go and come again;
tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you.(AK)
29 Do not plan harm against your neighbor
who lives trustingly beside you.(AL)
30 Do not quarrel with anyone without cause,
when no harm has been done to you.(AM)
31 Do not envy the violent,
and do not choose any of their ways,(AN)
32 for the perverse are an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are in his confidence.(AO)
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the abode of the righteous.(AP)
34 Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he shows favor.(AQ)
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but stubborn fools, disgrace.
Parental Advice
4 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain[f] insight,(AR)
2 for I give you good precepts:
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and my mother’s favorite,(AS)
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments and live.(AT)
5 Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget nor turn away
from the words of my mouth.(AU)
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.(AV)
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight.(AW)
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.(AX)
9 She will place on your head a fair garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”(AY)
Admonition to Keep to the Right Path
10 Hear, my child, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.(AZ)
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.(BA)
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.(BB)
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.(BC)
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.(BD)
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.(BE)
20 My child, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.(BF)
22 For they are life to those who find them
and healing to all their flesh.(BG)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.(BH)
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.(BI)
25 Let your eyes look directly forward
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Keep straight the path of your feet,
and all your ways will be sure.(BJ)
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.(BK)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.