Proverbs · King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Proverbs 2 King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
1 My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you,
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, [and] apply thine heart to understanding;
2 so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, [and] liftest up thy voice for understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as [for] hid treasures;
4 if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding.
6 For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: [he is] a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
8 that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; [yea], every good path.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.
10 ¶ When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
10 For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
11 Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil [man], from the man that speaketh froward things;
12 to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things,
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 Who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
14 who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 Whose ways [are] crooked, and [they] froward in their paths:
15 who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, [even] from the stranger [which] flattereth with her words;
16 to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
17 who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
18 for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
19 None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good [men], and keep the paths of the righteous.
20 Therefore walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 1:3; Proverbs 4:1; John 12:47–48; Deuteronomy 6:6–9
- 2 Proverbs 23:12; Proverbs 18:1; Psalm 90:12; Matthew 13:9; Psalm 119:111–112
- 3 James 1:5; Ephesians 1:17–18; Proverbs 3:6; Psalm 25:4–5; 1 Kings 3:9–12
- 4 Matthew 13:44; Matthew 19:29; Proverbs 16:16; Job 3:21; Proverbs 8:18–19
- 5 Proverbs 1:7; Jeremiah 24:7; Luke 10:22; 1 John 5:20; Luke 11:9–13
- 6 Ephesians 1:17–18; James 1:5; Luke 21:15; Isaiah 54:13; Job 32:8
- 7 James 3:15–17; Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 84:11; 1 Corinthians 3:18–19; 2 Timothy 3:15–17
- 8 Psalm 23:3; 1 Samuel 2:9; John 10:28–29; Psalm 145:20; Psalm 66:9
- 9 Jeremiah 6:16; Matthew 7:13–14; Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 143:8–10; Proverbs 1:2–6
- 10 Jeremiah 15:16; Colossians 3:16; Job 23:12; Proverbs 24:13–14; Psalm 104:34
- 11 Proverbs 4:6; Ephesians 5:15; Psalm 25:21; Ecclesiastes 10:10; Psalm 119:9–11
- 12 1 Corinthians 15:33; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 13:20; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Isaiah 59:3–5
- 13 John 3:19–20; Proverbs 4:19; 1 John 2:19; Proverbs 21:16; 2 Peter 2:20–22
- 14 Romans 1:32; Proverbs 10:23; Jeremiah 11:15; Luke 22:4–5; 1 Corinthians 13:6
- 15 Psalm 125:5; Proverbs 21:8; Philippians 2:15; Deuteronomy 32:5; Isaiah 59:8
- 16 Ecclesiastes 7:26; Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 6:24; Proverbs 7:5–23; Proverbs 23:27
- 17 Ezekiel 16:59–60; Jeremiah 3:4; Ezekiel 16:8; Malachi 2:14–16; Proverbs 5:18
- 18 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; Proverbs 9:18; Galatians 5:19–21; Revelation 21:8; Ephesians 5:5
- 19 Ecclesiastes 7:26; Psalm 81:12; Hosea 4:14; Matthew 19:24–26; Hebrews 6:18
- 20 Hebrews 6:12; 3 John 11; Psalm 119:115; Psalm 119:63; Proverbs 13:20
- 21 Psalm 84:11; Psalm 37:29; Psalm 37:9; Proverbs 10:30; Job 42:12
- 22 Psalm 52:5; Deuteronomy 7:22; Isaiah 3:10–11; Psalm 37:28; Proverbs 10:30
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For in these very books on the study of which they are intent, they read, "The Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding;" and it is from Him they have received their very desire for knowledge, if it is wedded to piety.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)