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1 Oh, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee; 2 That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding! 3 For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding,— 4 If thou wilt seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures, 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom; From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding: 7 He layeth up safety for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk uprightly: 8 He guardeth the paths of equity, And defendeth the way of his servants. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path. 10 When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul, 11 Discretion will guard thee, Understanding will preserve thee. 12 It will deliver thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things; 13 Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perverseness of the wicked; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are froward in their ways. 16 It will deliver thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, who useth smooth words; 17 Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18 For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead: 19 None that go to her return again; They will not attain the paths of life. 20 Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous: 21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it; 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.