⁵ In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,^(A)
    but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

⁶ Start^(B) children off on the way they should go,^(C)
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.^(D)

⁷ The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

⁸ Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,^(E)
    and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.^(F)

⁹ The generous will themselves be blessed,^(G)
    for they share their food with the poor.^(H)

¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended.^(I)

¹¹ One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace
    will have the king for a friend.^(J)

¹² The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³ The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!^(K)
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴ The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;^(L)
    a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.^(M)