| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; | 1My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you, |
| 2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; | 2by making your ear attentive to wisdom, and by turning your heart to understanding, |
| 3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; | 3indeed, if you call out for discernment--raise your voice for understanding-- |
| 4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; | 4if you seek it like silver, and search for it like hidden treasure, |
| 5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. | 5then you will understand how to fear the LORD, and you will discover knowledge about God. |
| 6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. | 6For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. |
| 7He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. | 7He stores up effective counsel for the upright, and is like a shield for those who live with integrity, |
| 8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. | 8to guard the paths of the righteous and to protect the way of his pious ones. |
| 9Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. | 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity--every good way. |
| 10When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; | 10For wisdom will enter your heart, and moral knowledge will be attractive to you. |
| 11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: | 11Discretion will protect you, understanding will guard you, |
| 12To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; | 12to deliver you from the way of the wicked, from those speaking perversity, |
| 13Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; | 13who leave the upright paths to walk on the dark ways, |
| 14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; | 14who delight in doing evil, they rejoice in perverse evil; |
| 15Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: | 15whose paths are morally crooked, and who are devious in their ways; |
| 16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; | 16to deliver you from the adulteress, from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words; |
| 17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. | 17who leaves the husband from her younger days, and forgets her marriage covenant made before God. |
| 18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. | 18For her house sinks down to death, and her paths lead to the place of the departed spirits. |
| 19None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. | 19None who go in to her will return, nor will they reach the paths of life. |
| 20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. | 20So you will walk in the way of good people, and will keep on the paths of the righteous. |
| 21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. | 21For the upright will reside in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, |
| 22But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. | 22but the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be torn away from it. |
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