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10 My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
11 If they say,
    “Come with us!
    We shall lie in wait for blood;
    we shall ambush the innocent without cause.[a]
12 Like Sheol,[b] we will swallow them alive
    and whole, like those who descend to the pit.[c]
13 We shall find all precious wealth,
    we shall fill our houses with booty,
14 you shall throw your lot in our midst,
    there will be one purse for all of us.”
15 My child, do not walk in their way.[d]
    Keep your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
    and they hurry to shed blood,
17 for “in vain[e] is the net scattered,
    in the sight of any winged bird.”[f]
18 They lie in wait for their own blood.
    They ambush their own lives.
19 Thus are the ways of all who are greedy for gain—
    it will take the life of its possessors.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:11 Or “wantonly,” or “for nothing”
  2. Proverbs 1:12 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
  3. Proverbs 1:12 Literally “like the descenders of a pit”
  4. Proverbs 1:15 Or “on their road”
  5. Proverbs 1:17 Or “without cause,” or “for nothing”
  6. Proverbs 1:17 Literally “bird of wing”

10 My son, if sinners entice you,(A)
don’t be persuaded.(B)
11 If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush(C) and kill someone.[a]
Let’s attack some innocent person(D) just for fun![b]
12 Let’s swallow them alive,(E) like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the Pit.(F)
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.(G)
14 Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share the loot”[c]
15 my son, don’t travel that road with them(H)
or set foot on their path,(I)
16 because their feet run toward evil
and they hurry to shed blood.(J)
17 It is useless to spread a net
where any bird can see it,
18 but they set an ambush to kill themselves;[d]
they attack their own lives.
19 Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;(K)
it takes the lives of those who receive it.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. 1:11 Lit Let’s ambush for blood
  2. 1:11 Lit person for no reason
  3. 1:14 Lit us; one bag will be for all of us
  4. 1:18 Lit they ambush for their blood
  5. 1:19 Lit takes the life of its masters