Proverbs 2

1 My son [child of God, descendant], if you accept [receive, take to heart] my words [promises, commandments] and hide [store up, treasure] my commandments [laws, instructions] within you [in your heart, mind], word study 2 if you incline [turn, bend] your ear [the ability to hear, to listen] to wisdom [skill, prudence, or good judgment] and direct [stretch, spread out, apply] your heart [feelings, will, and intellect] to understanding [intelligence, insight, discretion], word study 3 if you truly [sincerely, with all your heart] call out [cry, lift your voice] to insight [discernment, knowledge] and lift your voice [cry, plead] to understanding [wisdom, prudence], word study 4 if you seek [diligently, with all your heart] it like [precious] silver and search [look carefully, investigate thoroughly] it out like hidden [valuable] treasure, word study 5 then [at that time, in the future] you will discern [understand, have insight into] the fear [reverence, respect, awe] of the LORD [Yehovah, the one true God] and discover [find, attain, gain] the knowledge [understanding, wisdom] of God [Elohim, the supreme God]. word study 6 For [because of this reason] the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] gives [grants, bestows] wisdom [skill, prudence, or good judgment]; from His mouth [lips, the source of speech] come [proceed, flow out] knowledge [understanding, insight] and understanding [intelligence, discernment]. word study 7 He stores up [lays up, treasures] sound wisdom [support and understanding] for the upright [righteous, just]; He is a shield [buckler, protector] to those who walk [go, journey] with integrity [completeness, moral purity], word study 8 to guard [watch over, keep safe] the paths [ways, roads] of justice [righteous judgment, moral integrity] and protect [preserve, defend] the way [path, journey] of His saints [pious ones, faithful followers, holy ones]. word study 9 Then [at that time, in the future] you will discern [understand, have insight into] righteousness [God’s standard, moral integrity] and justice [fairness, judgment] and equity [uprightness, fairness]—every [all, everything] good [pleasant, beneficial] path [way, track]. word study 10 For [because of this cause] wisdom [skill, prudence, or good judgment] will enter [come into, approach] your heart [inner being, mind, and emotions], and knowledge [understanding, insight, or discernment] will delight [be pleasant, agreeable, or sweet] your soul [the essence of a person, living being]. word study 11 Discretion [wise purposes, thoughtful planning] will watch over you [keep you safe, guard you], and understanding [insight, skill] will guard you [keep you, preserve you, watch over you], word study 12 to deliver [rescue, snatch away] you from the way [path, manner of life] of evil [bad, morally harmful], from the man [male person, individual] who speaks [communicates, utters] perversity [stubbornness, disobedience, being twisted], word study 13 from those who leave [abandon, forsake] the straight [upright, righteous] paths [ways of righteousness, roads] to walk [follow, journey] in the ways [paths, roads] of darkness [spiritual gloom, wickedness], word study 14 from those who enjoy [take pleasure in, delight in] doing evil [wrongdoing, wickedness] and rejoice [are glad, have joy] in the twistedness [perverseness, frowardness] of evil [bad, moral harm], word study 15 whose paths [crooked, twisted] are crooked [perverse, turned to evil] and whose ways [deceitful, froward] are devious [wayward, turned aside from what is right]. word study 16 It will rescue [snatch away, deliver] you from the forbidden [strange, foreign] woman [who is immoral, like a prostitute], from the stranger [foreigner, unfamiliar person] with seductive [smooth, flattering] words [sayings, promises] word study 17 who abandons [forsakes, loosens the bond with] the partner [guide, friend, husband] of her youth [early years, young age] and forgets [is oblivious to, mislays] the covenant [promise, agreement, treaty] of her God [Elohim, the supreme One]. word study 18 For her house [inclineth, tends] sinks down [to the depths, leading to] to death [the state of being dead, separation from God], and her tracks [paths, ways] to the departed spirits [the dead, shades, Rephaim]. word study 19 None [no one, not a single person] who go [enter, approach] to her [a woman like that, an adulteress] return [come back, turn back] or [nor] negotiate [attain, reach] the paths [ways, journeys] of life [eternal life, spiritual vitality]. word study 20 So you will follow [walk, journey] in the ways [path, manner of life] of the good [pleasant, righteous, upright], and keep [obey, guard, protect] to the paths [roads, journey] of the righteous [just, godly, having God’s nature]. word study 21 For [because of this reason] the upright [just, righteous, having God’s nature] will inhabit [dwell, live in] the land [earth, territory], and the blameless [perfect, unblemished, without defect] will remain [stay, be left] in it [the land, this place]; word study 22 but the [morally wrong, guilty of sin] wicked [those who do unjustly, transgressors] will be cut off [destroyed, rooted out] from the land [earth, country, territory], and the [deceitful, treacherous] unfaithful [those who act treacherously, are not trustworthy] will be uprooted [pulled out by the roots, thrown out]. word study