¹⁰ If young toughs tell you, “Come and join us”—turn your back on them!

²³ Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life. ²⁴ Spurn the careless kiss of a prostitute.^[a] Stay far from her. ²⁵ Look straight ahead; don’t even turn your head to look. ²⁶ Watch your step. Stick to the path and be safe. ²⁷ Don’t sidetrack; pull back your foot from danger.

⁹ A good man has firm footing, but a crook will slip and fall.

⁵ Good people are directed by their honesty; the wicked shall fall beneath their load of sins.

⁶ The good man’s goodness delivers him; the evil man’s treachery is his undoing.

¹² Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right but ends in death.

¹⁶ A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence.

²² Those who plot evil shall wander away and be lost, but those who plan good shall be granted mercy and quietness.

³ The Lord is watching everywhere and keeps his eye on both the evil and the good.

⁶ Iniquity is atoned for by mercy and truth; evil is avoided by reverence for God.

¹⁷ The path of the godly leads away from evil; he who follows that path is safe.