Proverbs 2:2

Contemporary English Version

Keep in tune with wisdom and think what it means to have common sense.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
listening closely to wisdomand directing your heart to understanding;

Hebrew Names Version
So as to turn your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

King James Version
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

English Standard Version
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

New Century Version
Listen carefully to wisdom; set your mind on understanding.

New English Translation
by making your ear attentive to wisdom, and by turning your heart to understanding,

Amplified Bible
So that your ear is attentive to [skillful and godly] wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding [seeking it conscientiously and striving for it eagerly];

New American Standard Bible
Make your ear attentive to wisdom; Incline your heart to understanding.

World English Bible
So as to turn your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

Geneva Bible (1587)
And cause thine eares to hearken vnto wisdome, and encline thine heart to vnderstanding,

Legacy Standard Bible
To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,Incline your heart to discernment;

Berean Standard Bible
if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

Complete Jewish Bible
paying attention to wisdom inclining your mind toward understanding —

Darby Translation
so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom [and] thou apply thy heart to understanding;

Easy-to-Read Version
Listen to wisdom, and do your best to understand.

George Lamsa Translation
And incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding,

Good News Translation
Listen to what is wise and try to understand it.

Lexham English Bible
in order to incline your ear toward wisdom, then you shall apply your heart to understanding.

Literal Translation
so that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
that thine eare maye herken vnto wysdome, applie thine herte then to vnderstodinge.

American Standard Version
So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding;

Bible in Basic English
So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
So that thou make thine ear attend unto wisdom, and thy heart incline to discernment;

King James Version (1611)
So that thou incline thine eare vnto wisedome, and apply thine heart to vnderstanding:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
That thou wylt encline thine eares vnto wisdome: applye thine heart then to vnderstandyng.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
thine ear shall hearken to wisdom; thou shalt also apply thine heart to understanding, and shalt apply it to the instruction of thy son.

English Revised Version
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that thin eere here wisdom, bowe thin herte to knowe prudence.

Update Bible Version
So as to incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

Webster's Bible Translation
So that thou incline thy ear to wisdom, [and] apply thy heart to understanding;

New King James Version
So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

New Living Translation
Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

New Life Bible
make your ear open to wisdom. Turn your heart to understanding.

New Revised Standard
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So that thou direct, unto wisdom, thine ear, bend thy heart, unto understanding;

Douay-Rheims Bible
That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence.

Revised Standard Version
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

Young's Literal Translation
To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;

Contextual Overview

¹ My child, you must follow and treasure my teachings and my instructions. ² Keep in tune with wisdom and think what it means to have common sense. ³ Beg as loud as you can for good common sense. ⁴ Search for wisdom as you would search for silver or hidden treasure. ⁵ Then you will understand what it means to respect and to know the Lord God. ⁶ All wisdom comes from the Lord , and so do common sense and understanding. ⁷ God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and protects all of those who live as they should. ⁸ God sees that justice is done, and he watches over everyone who is faithful to him. ⁹ With wisdom you will learn what is right and honest and fair.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thou: Proverbs 18:1, Psalms 119:111, Psalms 119:112, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 13:9

apply: Proverbs 22:17-21, Proverbs 23:12, Psalms 90:12, Ecclesiastes 7:25, Ecclesiastes 8:9, Ecclesiastes 8:16, Acts 17:11

Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:3 - cheweth Joshua 18:3 - How long are Joshua 24:23 - incline 2 Chronicles 1:10 - Give me Proverbs 4:5 - Get wisdom Proverbs 7:4 - Say Proverbs 13:4 - but Proverbs 23:23 - Buy Ecclesiastes 1:13 - I gave Matthew 13:23 - good Matthew 13:44 - like Luke 8:18 - heed John 5:38 - ye have John 6:27 - which the

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

Genesis 2:11
The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah,

Exodus 23:12
Work the first six days of the week, but rest and relax on the seventh day. This law is not only for you, but for your oxen, donkeys, and slaves, as well as for any foreigners among you.

Exodus 31:17
This day will always serve as a reminder, both to me and to the Israelites, that I made the heavens and the earth in six days, then on the seventh day I rested and relaxed.

Deuteronomy 5:14
but the seventh day of the week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your oxen or donkeys or any other animal, not even those foreigners who live in your towns. And don't make your slaves do any work.

Isaiah 58:13
But first, you must start respecting the Sabbath as a joyful day of worship. You must stop doing and saying whatever you please on this special day.

John 5:17
But Jesus said, "My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working."

Hebrews 4:4
In fact, somewhere the Scriptures say that by the seventh day, God had finished his work, and so he rested.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So that thou incline thine ear unto Wisdom,.... Hearken to Wisdom, that is, Christ; or rather to the instruction of Wisdom, which is the Gospel; so called, because it is the produce of divine wisdom, what the wisdom of man could never have devised, and which it opposes; and in which there is a most glorious display of the wisdom of God, in the justification and salvation of his people by Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:6; and is worth listening unto with the greatest attention, which is what is designed by this expression;

[and] apply thine heart to understanding; to a spiritual and experimental understanding of the Gospel, and the truths of it: for an inclination of the ear, without an application of the heart, which signifies the intenseness of the mind, an earnest and hearty desire after knowledge, will signify nothing; a hypocrite may seemingly hear with great attention, and show much affection, and yet his heart be after the world and the things of it, Ezekiel 33:31; see Psalms 119:112.