1-5. Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;collect my counsels and guard them with your life.Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;set your heart on a life of Understanding.That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,and won’t take no for an answer,Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
16-19. Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress—that smooth-talking SeductressWho’s faithless to the husband she married years ago,never gave a second thought to her promises before God.Her whole way of life is doomed;every step she takes brings her closer to hell.No one who joins her company ever comes back,ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20-22. So—join the company of good men and women,keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land,the women with integrity who will last here.The corrupt will lose their lives;the dishonest will be gone for good.