King James Version KJV
English Standard Version ESV
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
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My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
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making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
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yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
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if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
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then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
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For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
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he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
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guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
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Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
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for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
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discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
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delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
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who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
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who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
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men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
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So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
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who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
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for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed;
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
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none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
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So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
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For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
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but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025