Proverbs · 22 verses
Proverbs 2
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Wisdom is hunted like hidden treasure, given by the LORD, and then set to guard its finder from crooked paths and a house that sinks to death.
The search that finds its sourcevv. 1–11
The chapter begins with a son receiving words, commandments, wisdom, and understanding—not passively, but with ear, heart, voice, and the determined habits of a treasure-seeker. The reward is knowledge of God, for the LORD gives wisdom; then wisdom enters the heart, knowledge delights the soul, and discretion and understanding take up watch. A rather well-staffed guardroom follows.
Two crooked waysvv. 12–19
The guard is needed because two dangers now appear. One is the man who speaks perversity, among those who abandon straight paths for darkness and even enjoy the twisting of evil. The other is the forbidden woman, whose seductive words lead to a house sinking down to death; her tracks do not offer a return journey or a negotiation with the paths of life.
The land keeps its verdictvv. 20–22
The chapter ends by turning from rescue to destination. The good and the righteous have paths to keep, while the upright inhabit the land and the blameless remain there. The wicked receive the opposite geography: cut off from the land and uprooted from it.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Prov 2:1My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
Prov 2:2if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
Prov 2:3if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,
Prov 2:4if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,
Prov 2:5then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
Prov 2:6For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Prov 2:7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
Prov 2:8to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
Prov 2:9Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path.
Prov 2:10For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.
Prov 2:11Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,
Prov 2:12to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
Prov 2:13from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
Prov 2:14from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
Prov 2:15whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
Prov 2:16It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Prov 2:17who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
Prov 2:18For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
Prov 2:19None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
Prov 2:20So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.
Prov 2:21For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
Prov 2:22but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 264 passages were voted onto 22 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 6Ephesians 1:17–18that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
- 7James 3:15–17Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
- 8Psalms 23:3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
- 6James 1:5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- 6Luke 21:15For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- 6Isaiah 54:13Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.
- 6Job 32:8But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- 6Psalms 119:98Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.
- 1Proverbs 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- 6John 6:45It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—
- 81 Samuel 2:9He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- 8John 10:28–29I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
- 61 Kings 3:12behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.
- 7Proverbs 30:5Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
- 7Psalms 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- 6Daniel 2:23To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Onward