Proverbs 2 - Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition

Wisdom and Bad Friends

¹ My child, you must follow and treasure my teachings and my instructions.

² Keep in tune with wisdom and think what it means to have common sense.

³ Beg as loud as you can for good common sense.

⁴ Search for wisdom as you would search for silver or hidden treasure.

⁵ Then you will understand what it means to respect and to know the Lord God.

⁶ All wisdom comes from the Lord, and so do common sense and understanding.

⁷ God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and protects those who live as they should.

⁸ God sees that justice is done, and he watches over everyone who is faithful to him.

⁹ With wisdom you will learn what is right and honest and fair.

¹⁰ Wisdom will control your mind, and you will be pleased with knowledge.

¹¹ Sound judgment and good sense will watch over you.

¹² Wisdom will protect you from evil schemes and from those liars

¹³ who turned from doing good to live in the darkness.

¹⁴ Most of all they enjoy being mean and deceitful.

¹⁵ They are dishonest themselves, and so are all their deeds.

Wisdom and Sexual Purity

¹⁶ Wisdom will protect you from the smooth talk of a sinful woman,

¹⁷ who breaks her wedding vows and leaves the man she married when she was young.

¹⁸ The road to her house leads down to the dark world of the dead.

¹⁹ Visit her, and you will never find the road to life again.

²⁰ Follow the example of good people and live an honest life.

²¹ If you are honest and innocent, you will keep your land;

²² if you do wrong and can never be trusted, you will be rooted out.