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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”

Avoid Evil Counsel

10 My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us!
    Let’s lie in wait for blood;
        let’s ambush some innocent person for no reason at all.
12 Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol,[a]
    and whole like those who go down into the Pit.[b]
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable wealth,
    and we’ll fill our houses with spoil.
14 Throw your lot in with us,
    and all of us will have one purse.”

15 My son, do not go along with them,[c]
    and keep your feet away from their paths!
16 For they[d] run toward evil;
    these enticers[e] shed blood without hesitation.[f]
17 Look, it is useless to spread a net in full view of[g] all the birds,
18 but these people[h] lie in wait for their own blood.[i]
        They ambush only themselves.
19 Such is the way of all those who seek illicit gain—
    it takes away the lives of those who possess it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:12 I.e. the realm of the dead; possibly an allusion to the rebellion of Korah (cf. Num 16:33)
  2. Proverbs 1:12 I.e. the place of punishment in the afterlife
  3. Proverbs 1:15 Lit. in the way with them
  4. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. For their feet
  5. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. they
  6. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. blood quickly
  7. Proverbs 1:17 Lit. in the eyes of
  8. Proverbs 1:18 Lit. they
  9. Proverbs 1:18 The Heb. lacks their own