| 1 Hijo mío, si aceptas mis palabras, | si quieres conservar mis consejos, | 1 My child, if you take my words to heart, if you set store by my commandments, |
| 2 si prestas oído a la sabiduría | y abres tu mente a la prudencia; | 2 tuning your ear to wisdom, tuning your heart to understanding, |
| 3 si haces venir a la inteligencia | y llamas junto a ti a la prudencia; | 3 yes, if your plea is for clear perception, if you cry out for understanding, |
| 4 si la procuras igual que el dinero | y la buscas lo mismo que un tesoro, | 4 if you look for it as though for silver, search for it as though for buried treasure, |
| 5 comprenderás lo que es temer al Señor | y alcanzarás el conocimiento de Dios. | 5 then you wil understand what the fear of Yahweh is, and discover the knowledge of God. |
| 6 Porque el Señor concede sabiduría, | de su boca brotan saber e inteligencia; | 6 For Yahweh himself is giver of wisdom, from his mouth issue knowledge and understanding. |
| 7 atesora acierto para el hombre recto, | es escudo para el de conducta intachable; | 7 He reserves his advice for the honest, a shield to those whose ways are sound; |
| 8 custodia la senda del honrado, | guarda el camino de sus fieles. | 8 he stands guard over the paths of equity, he keeps watch over the way of those faithful to him. |
| 9 Entonces podrás comprender | justicia, derecho y rectitud, | el camino que lleva a la felicidad: | 9 Then you wil understand uprightness, equity and fair dealing, the paths that lead to happiness. |
| 10 la sabiduría penetrará en tu mente | y te agradará el saber. | 10 When wisdom comes into your heart and knowledge fil s your soul with delight, |
| 11 La perspicacia cuidará de ti, | la prudencia te protegerá; | 11 then prudence wil be there to watch over you, and understanding wil be your guardian |
| 12 te librará del mal camino, | del hombre perverso, | 12 to keep you from the way that is evil, from those whose speech is deceitful, |
| 13 que abandona la senda recta | para ir por caminos tenebrosos; | 13 from those who leave the paths of honesty to walk the roads of darkness: |
| 14 que goza haciendo el mal, | complacido en sus perversas ideas; | 14 those who find their joy in doing wrong, and their delight in deceitfulness, |
| 15 que va por rumbos tortuosos | y sigue caminos extraviados. | 15 whose tracks are twisted, and the paths that they tread crooked. |
| 16 Te librará de la mujer extraña, | de la desconocida seductora, | 16 To keep you, too, from the woman who belongs to another, from the stranger, with her wheedlingwords; |
| 17 que abandonó al amigo de su juventud | y olvidó la alianza de su Dios. | 17 she has left the partner of her younger days, she has forgotten the covenant of her God; |
| 18 Su casa se ladea hacia la muerte, | sus sendas hacia la tierra de las sombras. | 18 her house is tilting towards Death, down to the Shades go her paths. |
| 19 Los que entran allí no vuelven, | no dan con la senda de la vida. | 19 Of those who go to her not one returns, they never regain the paths of life. |
| 20 Sigue, pues, el buen camino, | imita la conducta del honrado, | 20 Thus you wil tread the way of good people, persisting in the paths of the upright. |
| 21 pues los rectos habitarán la tierra | y los íntegros permanecerán en ella; | 21 For the land will be for the honest to live in, the innocent will have it for their home; |
| 22 pero los malvados serán arrancados, | los canallas, extirpados de ella. | 22 while the wicked wil be cut off from the land, and the faithless rooted out of it. |
