The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Good friend, take to heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
1
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding.
2
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 That's right - if you make Insight your priority, and won't take no for an answer,
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Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
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If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
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Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6 And here's why: God gives out Wisdom free, is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
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For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He's a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
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He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
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He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 So now you can pick out what's true and fair, find all the good trails!
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Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
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When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you.
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Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12 They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions
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To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Of those who are lost themselves and can't tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
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Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 These losers who make a game of evil and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
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Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Traveling paths that go nowhere, wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
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Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16 Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress - that smooth-talking Seductress
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To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17 Who's faithless to the husband she married years ago, never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
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Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 Her whole way of life is doomed; every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
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For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 No one who joins her company ever comes back, ever sets foot on the path to real living.
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None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 So - join the company of good men and women, keep your feet on the tried and true paths.
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That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 It's the men who walk straight who will settle this land, the women with integrity who will last here.
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For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 The corrupt will lose their lives; the dishonest will be gone for good.
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But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.