Proverbs 2

²Lean your ear toward wisdom, and open your heart to understanding.

³Call out for wisdom! Ask God loud and clear to help you understand.

⁴Search for wisdom the way you would hunt for buried treasure. Look everywhere for it!

⁵Then you will understand how amazing and holy God is, and you will really know Him.

⁶God is the one who gives wisdom. All real knowledge and understanding comes from Him.

⁷God saves up good wisdom for people who do right. He is like a shield that protects them.

⁸God watches over the paths of justice and keeps His people safe on the right way.

⁹Then you will understand what is right and fair and good — every good path will make sense to you.

¹⁰When wisdom fills your heart, it feels wonderful — like something good and sweet inside you.

¹¹Wisdom will keep you safe. Understanding will protect you like a shield.

¹²Wisdom will rescue you from people who do wrong and say hurtful, twisted things.

¹³Some people leave the right path and walk into the dark — they choose to do wrong on purpose.

¹⁴These people actually enjoy doing wrong things and love being wicked — that is how lost they are.

¹⁵Their ways are all twisted and bent — they are always going the wrong direction.

¹⁶Wisdom will also protect you from those who say flattering, sweet things just to lead you astray.

¹⁷This is about someone who left the good teaching they grew up with and forgot the promises they made to God.

¹⁸The path of going the wrong way leads to ruin — it is a road that does not end well.

¹⁹When people keep going the wrong way, they find it very hard to turn back. That is why we must choose right from the beginning.

²⁰God wants you to walk with good people and follow the paths of those who do what is right.

²¹People who do what is right will have a good place to live and belong. They will stay.

²²But those who keep doing wrong will lose their place. Wrong choices have real and lasting consequences.