The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 My son, if you will receive my words and store my commands inside you,
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My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;
2 paying attention to wisdom inclining your mind toward understanding
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So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;
3 yes, if you will call for insight and raise your voice for discernment,
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Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;
4 if you seek it as you would silver and search for it as for hidden treasure -
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If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;
5 then you will understand the fear of ADONAI and find knowledge of God.
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Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.
6 For ADONAI gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
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For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:
7 He stores up common sense for the upright, is a shield to those whose conduct is blameless,
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He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;
8 in order to guard the courses of justice and preserve the way of those faithful to him.
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He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him.
9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice, fairness and every good path.
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Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, knowledge will be enjoyable for you,
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For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you, and discernment will guard you.
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Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;
12 They will save you from the way of evil and from those who speak deceitfully,
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Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;
13 who leave the paths of honesty to walk the ways of darkness,
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Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;
14 who delight in doing evil and take joy in being stubbornly deceitful,
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Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner;
15 from those whose tracks are twisted and whose paths are perverse.
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Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:
16 They will save you from a woman who is a stranger, from a loose woman with smooth talk,
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To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue;
17 who abandons the ruler she had in her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
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Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:
18 Her house is sinking toward death, her paths lead to the dead.
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For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:
19 None who go to her return; they never regain the path to life.
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Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:
20 Thus you will walk on the way of good people and keep to the paths of the righteous.
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So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.
21 For the upright will live in the land, the pure-hearted will remain there;
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For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, the unfaithful rooted out of it.
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But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.