Proverbs 2
2
The Value of Wisdom
1My son, if you receive my words,
And #(Prov. 4:21)treasure my commands within you,
2So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4#(Prov. 3:14)If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5#(James 1:5, 6)Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
6#1 Kin. 3:9, 12; (Job 32:8; James 1:5)For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
#(Ps. 84:11); Prov. 30:5He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
8He guards the paths of justice,
And #(1 Sam. 2:9); Ps. 66:9preserves the way of His saints.
9Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
10When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11Discretion will preserve you;
#Prov. 4:6; 6:22Understanding will keep you,
12To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To #Ps. 82:5; Prov. 4:19; (John 3:19, 20)walk in the ways of darkness;
14#Prov. 10:23; Jer. 11:15; (Rom. 1:32)Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15#Ps. 125:5; (Prov. 21:8)Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
16To deliver you from #Prov. 5:20; 6:24; 7:5the immoral woman,
#Prov. 5:3From the seductress who flatters with her words,
17Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
18For #Prov. 7:27her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
20So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
21For the upright will dwell in the #Ps. 37:3land,
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.
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Proverbs 2: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 2
2
Make Insight Your Priority
1-5Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;
collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
6-8And here’s why: God gives out Wisdom free,
is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
He’s a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well,
a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
He keeps his eye on all who live honestly,
and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
9-15So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,
find all the good trails!
Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,
and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,
Insight will keep an eye out for you.
They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,
or following the bad directions
Of those who are lost themselves
and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
These losers who make a game of evil
and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
Traveling paths that go nowhere,
wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
16-19Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress—
that smooth-talking Seductress
Who’s faithless to the husband she married years ago,
never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
Her whole way of life is doomed;
every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
No one who joins her company ever comes back,
ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20-22So—join the company of good men and women,
keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.
It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land,
the women with integrity who will last here.
The corrupt will lose their lives;
the dishonest will be gone for good.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.