To know [skillful and godly] wisdom and instruction;
To discern and comprehend the words of understanding and insight,

for acquiring the discipline that produces wise behavior, righteousness, justice, and upright living;

That prudence (good judgment, astute common sense) may be given to the naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled],
And knowledge and discretion (intelligent discernment) to the youth,

That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:

To understand a proverb and a figure [of speech] or an enigma with its interpretation,
And the words of the wise and their riddles [that require reflection].

for that shall bring grace unto thy head, and shall be a chain about thy neck.

If they say, “Come with us;
Let us lie in wait to shed blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

my son, don’t travel that road with them
or set foot on their path,

Surely, in vain, is spread the net, in the sight of aught that hath wings!

So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Seeing then that I have called, and ye refused it: I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded it,

I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,

even when the thing that ye be afraid of, falleth in suddenly like a storm, and your misery like a tempest: yea, when trouble and heaviness cometh upon you.

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

Whereas, he that hearkeneth unto me, shall dwell safely, and be at rest, without dread of misfortune.

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

For it is the LORD that giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints.

To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words;

That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God:

None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

My son, forget not my law, but see that thine heart keep my commandments.

Honor Yahweh from your substance, and from the firstfruits of all that will come to you,

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or the storm of wickedness that will come.

For the LORD shall be beside thee, and keep thy foot that thou be not taken.

Refuse not to do good unto him that should have it, so long as thine hand is able to do it.

Devise not against thy neighbour an injury, seeing that, he, dwelleth securely by thee.

The wise shall have honour in possession, but shame is the promotion that fools shall have.

Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline,
and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:

The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! With all [that is in] your possession, gain insight.

Listen, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many.

So that if thou goest therein, there shall no straitness hinder thee: and when thou runnest, thou shalt not fall.

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded; for out of it are the issues of life.

Let thine eyes behold the thing that is right, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Make level the track of thy foot, that, all thy ways, may be directed aright:

That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:

so that strangers don't enrich themselves at your expense, and your work won't end up the possession of foreigners.

Yea, that thou mourn not at the last, when thou hast spent thy body and goods,

And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

Let thy wells flow out abroad, that there may be rivers of water in the streets:

For the ways of a person are in front of the Lord's eyes, and the Lord weighs all that person's paths.

He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

Yea, sleep on still a little, slumber a little, fold thy hands together yet a little, that thou mayest sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet, That maketh signs with his fingers;

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

Here are six things that the LORD hates seven, in fact, are detestable to him:

A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

That they may lead thee where thou goest, preserve thee when thou art asleep, and that when thou awakest, thou mayest talk of them.

Because the command is a lamp and the Law a light, rebukes that discipline are a way of life

To keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.

that thou lust not after her beauty in thine heart, and lest thou be taken with her fair looks.

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Men do not utterly despise a thief, that stealeth to satisfy his soul, when he is hungry:

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

Keep my commands so that you may live, and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.

That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

and I noticed among the naive that is, I discerned among the youths a senseless young man.

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

Suddenly he went after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper's snare

Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Give ear, for I will speak of great matters, and open my lips to tell things that be right.

They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

With me is the fear of the LORD, and the eschewing of evil. As for pride, disdain, and evil way, and a mouth that speaketh wicked things, I utterly abhor them.

It is by me that kings reign
and rulers enact just law;

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

I walk on the way of righteousness, along paths that are just,

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

Yahweh, had constituted me the beginning of his way, before his works, at the commencement of that time;

The earth and all that is upon the earth was not yet made, no not the ground itself.

When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

Listen to my instruction so that you may be wise, and do not neglect it.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

For, he that findeth me, findeth life, and hath obtained favour from Yahweh;

But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled.

Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live, and proceed in the way of understanding."