The Value of Wisdom
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u My son, v if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
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making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
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yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice w for understanding,
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if you seek it like x silver
and search for it as for y hidden treasures,
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then z you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
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For a 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 b a shield to those who c walk in integrity,
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guarding the paths of justice
and d watching over the way of his e saints.
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f Then you will understand g righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
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for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
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h discretion will i watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
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delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
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who forsake the paths of uprightness
to j walk in the ways of darkness,
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who k rejoice in doing evil
and l delight in the perverseness of evil,
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men whose m paths are crooked,
n and who are o devious in their ways.
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So p you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from q the adulteress with r her smooth words,
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who forsakes s the companion of her youth
and forgets t the covenant of her God;
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u for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;
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none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
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So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
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For the upright v will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
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but the wicked will be w cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be x rooted out of it.
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Cross References
Proverbs 1:8
Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
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Cross References
Proverbs 4:1
Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight.
Proverbs 4:10
Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
Proverbs 4:20
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Proverbs 7:1
My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.
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Cross References
Proverbs 4:1
Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight.
Proverbs 4:5
Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Proverbs 4:7
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
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Cross References
Proverbs 3:14
For the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.
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Cross References
Job 3:21
Who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures.
Matthew 13:44
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
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Cross References
Psalms 25:14
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
John 7:17
If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
John 14:21
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
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Cross References
Job 32:8
But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
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Cross References
Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Psalms 3:3
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
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Cross References
Psalms 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 2:9
He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
Psalms 66:9
Who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.
Psalms 97:10
O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
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Cross References
Psalms 30:4
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
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Cross References
Proverbs 2:5
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
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Cross References
Proverbs 1:3
To receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity.
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Cross References
Proverbs 1:4
To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth -
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Cross References
Proverbs 6:22
When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
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Cross References
Psalms 82:5
They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
John 3:19 - 20
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 11:15
What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?
Proverbs 10:23
Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
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Cross References
Psalms 50:18
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.
Romans 1:32
Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
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Cross References
Psalms 125:5
But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!
Proverbs 21:8
The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright.
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Cross References
Proverbs 14:2
Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
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Cross References
Proverbs 3:32
For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.
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Cross References
Proverbs 7:5
To keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.
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Cross References
Proverbs 6:24
To preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Proverbs 23:27
For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
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Cross References
Proverbs 6:24
To preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Psalms 5:9
For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 3:4
Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you are the friend of my youth -
Psalms 55:13
But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
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Cross References
Malachi 2:14 - 15
But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
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Cross References
Proverbs 7:27
Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
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Cross References
Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.
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Cross References
Psalms 37:38
But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
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Cross References
Proverbs 15:25
The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries.
Deuteronomy 28:63
And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
Psalms 52:5
But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.