Searching for Wisdom

2 My child, will you treasure my wisdom?
Then, and only then, will you acquire it.
And only if you accept my advice
and hide it within will you succeed.
2 So train your heart to listen when I speak
and open your spirit wide to expand your discernment—
then pass it on to your sons and daughters.
3 Yes, cry out for comprehension and intercede for insight.
4 For if you keep seeking it like a man would seek for sterling silver,
searching in hidden places for cherished treasure,
5 then you will discover the fear of the Lord
and find the true knowledge of God.
6 Wisdom is a gift from a generous God,
and every word he speaks is full of revelation
and becomes a fountain of understanding within you.
7–8 For the Lord has a hidden storehouse of wisdom
made accessible to his godly lovers.
He becomes your personal bodyguard as you follow his ways,
protecting and guarding you as you choose what is right.
9 Then you will discover all that is just, proper, and fair,
and be empowered to make the right decisions
as you walk into your destiny.
10 When wisdom wins your heart and revelation breaks in,
true pleasure enters your soul.
11 If you choose to follow good counsel,
divine design will watch over you
and understanding will protect you
from making poor choices.

12 It will rescue you from evil in disguise

and from those who speak duplicities.

13 For they have left the highway of holiness
and walk in the ways of darkness.
14 They take pleasure when evil prospers
and thoroughly enjoy a lifestyle of sin.
15 But they’re walking on a path to nowhere,
wandering away into deeper deception.

Wisdom, the Way of the Pure

16 Only wisdom can save you from the flattery
of the promiscuous woman—
she’s such a smooth-talking seductress!
17 She left her husband and has forgotten her wedding vows.
18 You’ll find her house on the road to hell,
19 and all the men who go through her doors
will never come back to the place they were—
they will find nothing but desolation and despair.
20 Follow those who follow wisdom and stay on the right path.
21 For all my godly lovers will enjoy life to the fullest
and will inherit their destinies.
22 But the treacherous ones who love darkness
will not only lose all they could have had,
they will lose even their own souls!