The Benefits of Wisdom

1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and lay up my commandments with thee;

2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3Yea, if thou cry after discernment, and lift up thy voice for understanding;

4If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures;

5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

6For the LORD giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:

7He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, he is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

8That he may guard the paths of judgment, and preserve the way of his saints.

9Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment, and equity, yea, every good path.

10For wisdom shall enter into thine heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;

11Discretion shall watch over thee, understanding shall keep thee:

12To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak froward things;

13Who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

15Who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths:

16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

17Which forsaketh the friend of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God:

18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead:

19None that go unto her return again, neither do they attain unto the paths of life:

20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

22But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and they that deal treacherously shall be rooted out of it.