Proverbs 2:3

Good News Translation

Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
furthermore, if you call out to insightand lift your voice to understanding,

Hebrew Names Version
Yes, if you call out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding;

King James Version
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

English Standard Version
yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

New Century Version
Cry out for wisdom, and beg for understanding.

New English Translation
indeed, if you call out for discernment— raise your voice for understanding—

Amplified Bible
Yes, if you cry out for insight, And lift up your voice for understanding;

New American Standard Bible
For if you cry out for insight, And raise your voice for understanding;

World English Bible
Yes, if you call out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding;

Geneva Bible (1587)
(For if thou callest after knowledge, and cryest for vnderstanding:

Legacy Standard Bible
For if you call out for understanding,Give your voice for discernment;

Berean Standard Bible
if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

Contemporary English Version
Beg as loud as you can for good common sense.

Complete Jewish Bible
yes, if you will call for insight and raise your voice for discernment,

Darby Translation
yea, if thou criest after discernment [and] liftest up thy voice to understanding;

Easy-to-Read Version
Ask for good judgment. Cry out for understanding.

George Lamsa Translation
Yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice to understanding,

Lexham English Bible
For if you cry out for understanding, if you lift your voice for insight,

Literal Translation
For if you cry for discernment, lifting up your voice for understanding;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For yf thou criest after wy?dome, & callest for knowlege:

American Standard Version
Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding;

Bible in Basic English
Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Yea, if thou call for understanding, and lift up thy voice for discernment;

King James Version (1611)
Yea if thou cryest after knowledge, and liftest vp thy voyce for vnderstanding:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For if thou cryest after wisdome, and cryest for knowledge:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For it thou shalt call to wisdom, and utter thy voice for understanding;

English Revised Version
Yea, if thou cry after discernment, and lift up thy voice for understanding;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For if thou inwardli clepist wisdom, and bowist thin herte to prudence;

Update Bible Version
Yes, if you cry after discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding;

Webster's Bible Translation
Yes, if thou criest after knowledge, [and] liftest up thy voice for understanding;

New King James Version
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,

New Living Translation
Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

New Life Bible
If you cry out to know right from wrong, and lift your voice for understanding;

New Revised Standard
if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yea if, for understanding, thou cry aloud, for knowledge, utter thy voice;

Douay-Rheims Bible
For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:

Revised Standard Version
yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

Young's Literal Translation
For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;

Contextual Overview

¹ My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do. ² Listen to what is wise and try to understand it. ³ Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight. ⁴ Look for it as hard as you would for silver or some hidden treasure. ⁵ If you do, you will know what it means to fear the Lord and you will succeed in learning about God. ⁶ It is the Lord who gives wisdom; from him come knowledge and understanding. ⁷ He provides help and protection for those who are righteous and honest. ⁸ He protects those who treat others fairly, and guards those who are devoted to him. ⁹ If you listen to me, you will know what is right, just, and fair. You will know what you should do.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

if: Proverbs 3:6, Proverbs 8:17, 1 Kings 3:9-12, 1 Chronicles 22:12, Psalms 25:4, Psalms 25:5, Psalms 119:34, Psalms 119:73, Psalms 119:125, Psalms 119:169, Luke 11:13, Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 1:18, James 1:5

liftest up thy voice: Heb. givest thy voice

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 10:1 - concerning Job 5:27 - we have searched Proverbs 8:34 - watching John 7:28 - whom Acts 10:2 - and prayed Philippians 3:15 - God 2 Timothy 2:7 - and

Cross-References

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.

Genesis 2:3
He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.

Genesis 2:4
And that is how the universe was created. When the Lord God made the universe,

Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed.

Genesis 2:10
A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers.

Genesis 2:11
The first river is the Pishon; it flows around the country of Havilah.

Genesis 2:12
(Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.)

Genesis 2:13
The second river is the Gihon; it flows around the country of Cush.

Genesis 2:14
The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,.... Of God, Christ, and the Gospel; not only bow the ear and bend the mind to these things, but importunately and fervently pray for them; not only attend the ministry of the word by men, but cry to God to give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of divine and spiritual things; which supposes some sense of a want of it, an hearty desire for it, having some apprehension of the worth and value of it; and that it is to be had, as there is indeed great reason to hope for and expect it, James 1:5;

[and] liftest up thy voice for understanding; for Christ, who is understanding as well as wisdom, Proverbs 8:14; or rather for an understanding of the Gospel and the mysteries of it, which men do not naturally understand; and for which there must be an understanding given, or the eyes of the understanding must be enlightened; or Christ, by his spirit and grace, must open the understanding, that it may understand these things; which is granted to those who lift up their voice in prayer for it.