1: Good friend, take to heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
2: Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding.
3: That's right--if you make Insight your priority, and won't take no for an answer,
4: Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
5: Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-GOD will be yours; you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
6: And here's why: GOD gives out Wisdom free, is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
7: He's a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
8: He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
9: So now you can pick out what's true and fair, find all the good trails!
10: Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
11: Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you.
12: They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions
13: Of those who are lost themselves and can't tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
14: These losers who make a game of evil and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
15: Traveling paths that go nowhere, wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
16: Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress--that smooth-talking Seductress
17: Who's faithless to the husband she married years ago, never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
18: Her whole way of life is doomed; every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
19: No one who joins her company ever comes back, ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20: So--join the company of good men and women, keep your feet on the tried and true paths.
21: It's the men who walk straight who will settle this land, the women with integrity who will last here.
22: The corrupt will lose their lives; the dishonest will be gone for good.