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My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
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So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
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Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
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If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
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Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
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For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
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He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
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He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.
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Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.
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When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
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Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,
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To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
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From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;
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Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
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Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;
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To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,
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Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
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For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;
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None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life--
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So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.
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For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;