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The Proverbs

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 2 -

Reward for the seeker of wisdom

1
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee,
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That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: Incline thy heart to know prudence:
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For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:
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If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:
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Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God.
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Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.
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He will keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity.
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Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.
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Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.
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If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:
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Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,
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That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:
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Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:
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Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things:
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Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.
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That thou mayst be delivered from the strange women, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words:
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And forsaketh the guide of her youth,
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And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.
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None that go in unto her shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life,

Walking in the way of wisdom

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That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.
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For they that are upright shall dwell in the earth, and the simple shall continue in it.
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But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly shall be taken away from it.

Reward for the seeker of wisdom

1
My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you,
2
so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3
yes, if you call 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.(a)
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For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
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He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
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that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve 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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For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
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Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,
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to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things,
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who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,
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who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil,
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who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,
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to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,
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who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God;
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for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.
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None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.

Walking in the way of wisdom

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Therefore walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
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For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.
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But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Footnotes

(a)2:5 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
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