7  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is ^ba shield to those who ^cwalk in integrity,

8  guarding the paths of justice

and ^dwatching over the way of his ^esaints.

9  ^fThen you will understand ^grighteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

10  for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11  ^hdiscretion will ⁱwatch over you,

understanding will guard you,

12  delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

13  who forsake the paths of uprightness

to ^jwalk in the ways of darkness,

14  who ^krejoice in doing evil

and ^ldelight in the perverseness of evil,

15  men whose ^mpaths are crooked,

ⁿand who are ^odevious in their ways.

16  So ^pyou will be delivered from the forbidden¹ woman,

from ^qthe adulteress² with ^rher smooth words,

17  who forsakes ^sthe companion of her youth

and forgets ^tthe covenant of her God;

18  ^ufor her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the departed;³

19  none who go to her come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

20  So you will walk in the way of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21  For the upright ^vwill inhabit the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it,

22  but the wicked will be ^wcut off from the land,

and the treacherous will be ^xrooted out of it.

20  ^lMy son, keep your father’s commandment,

^land forsake not your mother’s teaching.

21  ^mBind them on your heart always;

ⁿtie them around your neck.

22  ^oWhen you walk, they¹ will lead you;

^owhen you lie down, they will ^pwatch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23  For the commandment is ^qa lamp and the teaching a light,

and the ^rreproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24  to preserve you from the evil woman,²

from the smooth tongue of ^sthe adulteress.³

1  ^hMy son, keep my words

and ^htreasure up my commandments with you;

2  ⁱkeep my commandments and live;

keep my teaching as ^jthe apple of your eye;

3  ^kbind them on your fingers;

^kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.

4  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call insight your intimate friend,

5  to keep you from ^lthe forbidden¹ woman,

from ^lthe adulteress² with her smooth words.

19  ^eWhen words are many, transgression is not lacking,

^fbut whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

3  By the mouth of a fool comes ^ja rod for his back,¹

^kbut the lips of the wise will preserve them.

10  ⁱThe name of the Lord is ^ja strong tower;

the righteous man runs into it and ^kis safe.

23  ^cWhoever keeps his mouth and his tongue

^dkeeps himself out of ^etrouble.

5  ^uThorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

whoever ^vguards his soul will keep far from them.

24  Make no friendship with a man given to anger,

nor go with a wrathful man,

25  lest you learn his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare.