Proverbs 2:9-22

Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance] And integrity and every good path. For [skillful and godly] wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you, Understanding and discernment will guard you, To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who find joy in doing evil And delight in the perversity of evil, Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; To keep you from the immoral woman; From the seductress with her flattering words, [Prov 2:11] Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death And her paths lead to the dead; None who go to her return again, Nor do they regain the paths of life— So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character], And keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.