My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee;
So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom,
And apply thy heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou cry after discernment,
And lift up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hid treasures:
Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah,
And find the knowledge of God.
For Jehovah giveth wisdom;
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:
He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright;
{Or, And a shield for &c.}He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;
{Or, That they may keep}That he may guard the paths of justice,
{Or, Yea he preserveth}And preserve the way of his saints.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice,
And equity, yea, every good path.
For wisdom shall enter into thy heart,
And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;
Discretion shall watch over thee;
Understanding shall keep thee:
To deliver thee from the way of {Or, the evil man}evil,
From the men that speak perverse things;
Who forsake the paths of uprightness,
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Who rejoice to do evil,
And delight in the perverseness of {Or, the evil man}evil;
Who are crooked in their ways,
And wayward in their paths:
To deliver thee from the strange woman,
Even from the foreigner that {Hebrew: maketh smooth her words.}flattereth with her words;
That forsaketh the {Or, guide}friend of her youth,
And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
For {Or, she sinketh down unto death, which is her house}her house inclineth unto death,
And her paths unto {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead;
None that go unto her return again,
Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.
For the upright shall dwell in the {Or, earth}land,
And the perfect shall remain in it.
But the wicked shall be cut off from the {Or, earth}land,
And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 2,10 Spr 2,10
He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire,And {Or, quarrelleth with}rageth against all sound wisdom.
A fool hath no delight in understanding,But only that his heart may reveal itself.
My son, eat thou honey, for it is good;And the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to thy taste:
So shalt thou know wisdom to be unto thy soul;If thou hast found it, then shall there be a reward,And thy hope shall not be cut off.
I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips;I have treasured up the words of his mouth {Or, more than my own law}more than my {Or, portion See Proverbs 30:8 }necessary food.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.
Let thy meditation be sweet unto him:I will rejoice in Jehovah.
מ MEM.Oh how love I thy law!It is my meditation all the day.
How sweet are thy words unto my {Hebrew: palate.}taste!Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever;For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I rejoice at thy word,As one that findeth great spoil.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.
Let the word of {Some ancient authorities read the Lord: others, God.}Christ dwell in you {Or, richly in all wisdom; teaching &c.}richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing {Or, yourselves}one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.