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11 Discretion will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you,
12 to deliver you from the way of evil,
    from the men who speak perverse things,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness,
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice to do evil,
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 who are crooked in their ways,
    and wayward in their paths,
16 to deliver you from the strange woman,
    even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,
17 who forsakes the friend of her youth,
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house leads down to death,
    her paths to the departed spirits.
19 None who go to her return again,
    neither do they attain to the paths of life.
20 So you may walk in the way of good men,
    and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land.
    The perfect will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land.
    The treacherous will be rooted out of it.

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11 Wise choices will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you safe.

12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
    from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
    to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
    and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
    and their ways are wrong.

16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
    from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband
    and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death;
    it is the road to the grave.[a]
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
    He will never reach the paths of life.

20 So follow the steps of the good,
    and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,
    and the treacherous will be uprooted.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:18 Hebrew to the spirits of the dead.

11 Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.(A)

12 Wisdom will save(B) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,(C)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(D)
15 whose paths are crooked(E)
    and who are devious in their ways.(F)

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,(G)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a](H)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.(I)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.(J)

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,(K)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked(L) will be cut off from the land,(M)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God

31 Don’t envy the man of violence.
    Choose none of his ways.
32 For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh,
    but his friendship is with the upright.

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31 Don’t envy violent people
    or copy their ways.
32 Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord,
    but he offers his friendship to the godly.

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31 Do not envy(A) the violent
    or choose any of their ways.

32 For the Lord detests the perverse(B)
    but takes the upright into his confidence.(C)

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12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
    is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
    who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness,
    who devises evil continually,
    who always sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
    He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

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12 What are worthless and wicked people like?
    They are constant liars,
13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,
    a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil,
    and they constantly stir up trouble.
15 But they will be destroyed suddenly,
    broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

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12 A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13     who winks maliciously with his eye,(A)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,(B)
14     who plots evil(C) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.(D)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(E)
    he will suddenly(F) be destroyed—without remedy.(G)

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Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
    but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

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The godly are showered with blessings;
    the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

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Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 10:6 Or righteous, / but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence

11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
    but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all wrongs.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment,
    but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

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11 The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain;
    the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.

12 Hatred stirs up quarrels,
    but love makes up for all offenses.

13 Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding,
    but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.

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11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,(A)
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.(B)

12 Hatred stirs up conflict,
    but love covers over all wrongs.(C)

13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,(D)
    but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.(E)

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18 He who hides hatred has lying lips.
    He who utters a slander is a fool.

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18 Hiding hatred makes you a liar;
    slandering others makes you a fool.

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18 Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips(A)
    and spreads slander is a fool.

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13 One who brings gossip betrays a confidence,
    but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.

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13 A gossip goes around telling secrets,
    but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

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13 A gossip betrays a confidence,(A)
    but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.(B)

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15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
    but he who is wise listens to counsel.
16 A fool shows his annoyance the same day,
    but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.
17 He who is truthful testifies honestly,
    but a false witness lies.
18 There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword,
    but the tongue of the wise heals.

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15 Fools think their own way is right,
    but the wise listen to others.

16 A fool is quick-tempered,
    but a wise person stays calm when insulted.

17 An honest witness tells the truth;
    a false witness tells lies.

18 Some people make cutting remarks,
    but the words of the wise bring healing.

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15 The way of fools seems right to them,(A)
    but the wise listen to advice.(B)

16 Fools(C) show their annoyance at once,(D)
    but the prudent overlook an insult.(E)

17 An honest witness tells the truth,
    but a false witness tells lies.(F)

18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords,(G)
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.(H)

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16 Every prudent man acts from knowledge,
    but a fool exposes folly.

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16 Wise people think before they act;
    fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.

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16 All who are prudent act with[a] knowledge,
    but fools expose(A) their folly.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 13:16 Or prudent protect themselves through