Proverbs 2:2

Bishop's Bible

That thou wylt encline thine eares vnto wisdome: applye thine heart then to vnderstandyng.

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,

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

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:

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 sonne, if thou wylt receaue my wordes, and lay vp my commaundementes within thee, ² That thou wylt encline thine eares vnto wisdome: applye thine heart then to vnderstandyng. ³ For if thou cryest after wisdome, and cryest for knowledge: ⁴ If thou seekest for her as for siluer, and searchest for her as for treasures: ⁵ Then shalt thou vnderstand the feare of the Lorde, and finde the knowledge of God. ⁶ For the Lorde geueth wisdome, out of his mouth commeth knowledge and vnderstandyng. ⁷ He stirreth vp health for the righteous: and defendeth them that walke vprightly, ⁸ That they may kepe the right path: and he preserueth the way of such as do serue him with godlinesse. ⁹ Then shalt thou vnderstande righteousnesse, and iudgement, and equitie, yea and euery good path.

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
And God sawe euery thyng that he had made: and beholde, it was exceedyng good. And the euenyng & the mornyng were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastwarde in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had shapen.

Genesis 2:11
The name of ye first is Pison, the same is it that compasseth the whole lande of Hauilah, where there is golde:

Exodus 23:12
Sixe daies thou shalt do thy worke, and in the seuenth day thou shalt rest: that thyne oxe and thyne asse may rest, and the sonne of thy mayde and the straunger may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
For it is a signe betweene me and the children of Israel for euer: for in six dayes the Lorde made heauen and earth, and in the seuenth day he rested and was refreshed.

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seuenth day is the Sabbath of the Lorde thy God: thou shalt not do any worke, thou nor thy sonne, nor thy daughter, nor thy man seruaunt, nor thy mayde, nor thine oxe, nor thine asse, nor any of thy cattell, nor the straunger that is within thy gates: that thy man seruaunt, and thy mayde, may rest as well as thou.

Isaiah 58:13
Yea if thou turne thy feete from the sabbath, so that thou do not the thing whiche pleaseth thy selfe in my holy day, and thou call the pleasaunt, holy, and glorious sabbath of the Lorde, and that thou geue hym the honour, so that thou do not after thyne owne imagination, neither seeke thyne owne wyll, nor speake thyne owne wordes:

John 5:17
And Iesus aunswered them: My father worketh hitherto, and I worke.

Hebrews 4:4
For he spake in a certayne place of the seuenth daye on this wyse: And God dyd rest the seuenth daye from all his workes.

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.