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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
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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 thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
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2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
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3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy 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 thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid 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 shalt thou 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 giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh 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 layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that 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 keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth 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 shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, 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 entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy 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 shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
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11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
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12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward 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 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 to do evil, and delight in the frowardness 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 they froward 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 thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth 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 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth 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 inclineth unto death, and her paths unto 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 that go unto her return again , neither take they hold of 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 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
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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 shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall 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 shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of 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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| The King James Version is in the public domain. (The King James Bible Version Online) |
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) |
