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11 Evil people seek only rebellion,
    but a cruel messenger will be sent against them.

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11 Evil people seek only rebellion;
    a cruel messenger will be sent against them.

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19 One who loves transgression loves strife;
    one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.(A)
20 The crooked of mind do not prosper,
    and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.(B)

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19 Those who love an offense love a quarrel;
    those who build a high doorway invite a collapse.
20 Those with crooked hearts won’t prosper,
    and those with twisted tongues will fall into trouble.

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24 The discerning person looks to wisdom,
    but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.(A)

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24 Wisdom is right in front of those with understanding,
    but the eyes of fools are off to the edges of the earth.

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18 The one who lives alone is self-indulgent,
    showing contempt for all sound judgment.[a]
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing personal opinion.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 18.1 Meaning of Heb uncertain

18 Unfriendly people look out for themselves;
    they bicker with sensible people.
Fools find no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing their opinion.

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14 “Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
    then goes away and boasts.

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14 The buyer says, “Bad, bad,”
    but then goes away and brags.

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29 The wicked put on a bold face,
    but the upright give thought to[a] their ways.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 21.29 Or establish

29 The wicked person appears brash,
    but the virtuous think about the path ahead.

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10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife goes out;
    quarreling and abuse will cease.(A)

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10 Remove the mocker and conflict disappears;
    judgment and shame also stop.

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Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
    and the rod of anger will fail.(A)

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Those who sow injustice will harvest evil;
    the rod of their fury will come to an end.

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26 Do not be one of those who give pledges,
    who become surety for debts.(A)

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26 Don’t shake hands to guarantee a loan.

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23 When you sit down to eat with an official,
    observe carefully what[a] is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
    if you have a big appetite.
Do not desire an official’s[b] delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.1 Or who
  2. 23.3 Heb his

23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
    carefully consider what is in front of you.
Place a knife at your throat
    to control your appetite.
Don’t long for the ruler’s delicacies;
    the food misleads.

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Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
    do not desire their delicacies,(A)
for like a hair in the throat, so are they.[a]
    “Eat and drink!” they say to you,
    but they do not mean it.(B)
You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
    and you will waste your pleasant words.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    who will only despise the wisdom of your words.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Don’t eat food with stingy people;
    don’t long for their delicacies,
    because they are like a hair in the throat.[a]
They say to you, “Eat and drink!”
    but they don’t mean it.
You will eat scraps and vomit them out.
    You will waste your pleasant words.
Don’t speak in the ears of fools,
    for they will scorn your insightful words.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:7 LXX; Heb uncertain

It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
    to send a message by a fool.

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Sending messages with a fool
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking down violence.

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