Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Living Translation NLT
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee,
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My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
2 That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence.
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Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
3 For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:
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Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
4 If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:
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Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God:
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Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.
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For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He wilt keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity,
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He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.
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He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.
9 Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.
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Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.
10 If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:
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For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,
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Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
12 That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:
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Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
13 Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:
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These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
14 Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in the most wicked things:
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They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.
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Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.
16 That thou mayst be delivered from the strange woman, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words;
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Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 And forsaketh the guide of her youth,
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She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.
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Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
19 None that go in unto her, shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life.
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The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.
20 That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.
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Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For they that are upright, shall dwell in the earth; and the simple shall continue in it.
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For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly, shall be taken away from it.
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But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.
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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.