My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and treasure up my commandments with thee;

[The L-rd says: I will deem you] My son if you take My words [to heart] and store up My mitzvoth with you.

so that thou incline thy ear to wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding indeed,

[My words are] that your ears listen to wisdom [Torah] and incline your heart to understanding.

if thou criest after wisdom, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

When you call out to understanding, when you put forth your voice for understanding —

if thou seekest her like silver, and searchest for her as for hidden treasures;

If you seek for it as silver, if you search for it as hidden treasure —

then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

Then you will understand the fear of the L-rd and find the knowledge of G-d.

For the Lord gives wisdom: out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

[(And this, indeed, warrants the effort of acquisition)] for the L-rd [Himself] gives wisdom; from His mouth is knowledge and understanding.

He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a shield to those who walk uprightly,

He hid Torah for the just [(He secreted it with Himself for twenty-six generations until He gave it to the generation of the desert.)] It is a shield for those who walk in innocence,

to keep the paths of justice; and he preserves the way of his pious ones.

[to teach them] to observe the paths of justice; and He will guard the way of His saints [(that they not stumble)].

Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and justice and equity, every good path:

Then you will understand charity, justice, and justness [viz. 1:3] — every good path.

for wisdom shall enter thy heart, and knowledge be pleasant to thy soul;

When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Then Torah will watch over you; understanding will guard you.

to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks perverse things;

To save you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks contraries.

who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

From those who forsake just paths to walk in ways of darkness.

who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

Who are happy in the doing of evil, who rejoice in evil contrariness,

whose ways are crooked, and who are underhand in their paths:

Whose ways are crooked and who are crooked in their ways —

to deliver thee from the strange woman, from the alien woman who speaks so smoothly;

To save you from the strange woman [(idolatry)], from the foreign woman, who smooths over her words.

who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.

Who forsakes the master [(the husband)] of her youth and forgets the covenant of her G-d.

For her house inclines to death, and her paths to the dead.

[(reversion to 2:16)] for her house descends [i.e., causes you to descend] to death, and her paths, to the shades [(and Torah will guard you from this fall)].

None that go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life:

All who come to her will not return, and will not attain the paths of life.

that thou mayst walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

[(reversion to 2:12)] So that you walk in the way of the good and heed the path of the righteous.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the innocent shall remain in it.

For the just will dwell in the land [(in the world to come)], and the innocent will remain in it [(when the wicked descend to Gehinnom)].

But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the faithless shall be rooted out of it.

And the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the faithless uprooted from it.