King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
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My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do.
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
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Listen to what is wise and try to understand it.
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
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Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight.
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
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Look for it as hard as you would for silver or some hidden treasure.
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
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If you do, you will know what it means to fear the Lord and you will succeed in learning about God.
6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
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It is the Lord who gives wisdom; from him 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 provides help and protection for those who are righteous and honest.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
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He protects those who treat others fairly, and guards those who are devoted to him.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
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If you listen to me, you will know what is right, just, and fair. You will know what you should do.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
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You will become wise, and your knowledge will give you pleasure.
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
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Your insight and understanding will protect you
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
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and prevent you from doing the wrong thing. They will keep you away from people who stir up trouble by what they say -
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
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those who have abandoned a righteous life to live in the darkness of sin,
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
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those who find pleasure in doing wrong and who enjoy senseless evil,
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
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unreliable people who cannot be trusted.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
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You will be able to resist any immoral woman who tries to seduce you with her smooth talk,
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
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who is faithless to her own husband and forgets her sacred vows.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
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If you go to her house, you are traveling the road to death. To go there is to approach the world of the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
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No one who visits her ever comes back. He never returns to the road to 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 must follow the example of good people and live a righteous life.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
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Righteous people - people of integrity - will live in this land of ours.
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 God will snatch the wicked from the land and pull sinners out of it like plants from the ground.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.