New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
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Good friend, take to heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
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Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding.
3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
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That's right - if you make Insight your priority, and won't take no for an answer,
4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
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Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.
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Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
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And here's why: God gives out Wisdom free, is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
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He's a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.
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He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.
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So now you can pick out what's true and fair, find all the good trails!
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.
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Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
11 Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
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Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you.
12 Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
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They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions
13 These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
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Of those who are lost themselves and can't tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
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These losers who make a game of evil and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
15 Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.
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Traveling paths that go nowhere, wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
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Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress - that smooth-talking Seductress
17 She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
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Who's faithless to the husband she married years ago, never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
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Her whole way of life is doomed; every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
19 The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.
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No one who joins her company ever comes back, ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20 Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
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So - join the company of good men and women, keep your feet on the tried and true paths.
21 For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
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It's the men who walk straight who will settle this land, the women with integrity who will last here.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.
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The corrupt will lose their lives; the dishonest will be gone for good.