| New King James Version (NKJV) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
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1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
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2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
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2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
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3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
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3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
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4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
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4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
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5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
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5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
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6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
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6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
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7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
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7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
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8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.
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8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
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9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.
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9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path.
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10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
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10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
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11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,
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11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
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12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
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12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
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13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;
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13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,
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14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
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14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
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15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;
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15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
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16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,
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16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
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17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
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17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.
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18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;
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18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
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19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life--
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19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
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20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.
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20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.
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21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;
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21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
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22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
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22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
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| Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (New King James Version) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
