# Proverbs 2 (New King James Version)
The Value of Wisdom

##### Chapter 2
###### 1 My son, if you receive my words,  
And treasure my commands within you,  

###### 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,  
_And_ apply your heart to understanding;  

###### 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,  
_And_ lift up your voice for understanding,  

###### 4 If you seek her as silver,  
And search for her as _for_ hidden treasures;  

###### 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,  
And find the knowledge of God.  

###### 6 For the Lord gives wisdom;  
From His mouth _come_ knowledge and understanding;  

###### 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;  
_He is_ a shield to those who walk uprightly;  

###### 8 He guards the paths of justice,  
And preserves the way of His saints.  

###### 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,  
Equity _and_ every good path.

###### 10 When wisdom enters your heart,  
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,  

###### 11 Discretion will preserve you;  
Understanding will keep you,  

###### 12 To deliver you from the way of evil,  
From the man who speaks perverse things,  

###### 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness  
To walk in the ways of darkness;  

###### 14 Who rejoice in doing evil,  
_And_ delight in the perversity of the wicked;  

###### 15 Whose ways _are_ crooked,  
And _who are_ devious in their paths;  

###### 16 To deliver you from the immoral woman,  
From the seductress _who_ flatters with her words,  

###### 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,  
And forgets the covenant of her God.  

###### 18 For her house leads down to death,  
And her paths to the dead;  

###### 19 None who go to her return,  
Nor do they regain the paths of life--  

###### 20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,  
And keep _to_ the paths of righteousness.  

###### 21 For the upright will dwell in the land,  
And the blameless will remain in it;  

###### 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,  
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.