¹⁰ If young toughs tell you, “Come and join us”—turn your back on them! ¹¹ “We’ll hide and rob and kill,” they say. ¹² “Good or bad, we’ll treat them all alike. ¹³ And the loot we’ll get! All kinds of stuff! ¹⁴ Come on, throw in your lot with us; we’ll split with you in equal shares.”

¹⁵ Don’t do it, son! Stay far from men like that, ¹⁶ for crime is their way of life, and murder is their specialty. ¹⁷ When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away, ¹⁸ but not these men; they trap themselves! They lay a booby trap for their own lives. ¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who live by violence and murder.^[a] They will die a violent death.

²⁹ Wickedness loves company—and leads others into sin.^[a]

²⁶ If a godly man compromises with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

³ A rebel’s frustrations are heavier than sand and rocks.

¹⁰ A curse on those who lead astray the godly. But men who encourage the upright to do good shall be given a worthwhile reward.