10 My son, if sinners entice you,(A)
don’t be persuaded.(B)
11 If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush(C) and kill someone.[a]
Let’s attack some innocent person(D) just for fun![b]
12 Let’s swallow them alive,(E) like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.(F)
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.(G)
14 Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share our money”[c]
15 my son, don’t travel that road with them(H)
or set foot on their path,(I)
16 because their feet run toward trouble
and they hurry to commit murder.[d](J)
17 It is foolish to spread a net
where any bird can see it,
18 but they set an ambush to kill themselves;[e]
they attack their own lives.
19 Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;(K)
it takes the lives of those who receive it.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:11 Lit Let’s ambush for blood
  2. Proverbs 1:11 Lit person for no reason
  3. Proverbs 1:14 Lit us; one bag will be for all of us
  4. Proverbs 1:16 Lit to shed blood
  5. Proverbs 1:18 Lit they ambush for their blood
  6. Proverbs 1:19 Lit takes the life of its masters

Avoid Evil Counsel

10 My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us!
    Let’s lie in wait for blood;
        let’s ambush some innocent person for no reason at all.
12 Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol,[a]
    and whole like those who go down into the Pit.[b]
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable wealth,
    and we’ll fill our houses with spoil.
14 Throw your lot in with us,
    and all of us will have one purse.”

15 My son, do not go along with them,[c]
    and keep your feet away from their paths!
16 For they[d] run toward evil;
    these enticers[e] shed blood without hesitation.[f]
17 Look, it is useless to spread a net in full view of[g] all the birds,
18 but these people[h] lie in wait for their own blood.[i]
        They ambush only themselves.
19 Such is the way of all those who seek illicit gain—
    it takes away the lives of those who possess it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:12 I.e. the realm of the dead; possibly an allusion to the rebellion of Korah (cf. Num 16:33)
  2. Proverbs 1:12 I.e. the place of punishment in the afterlife
  3. Proverbs 1:15 Lit. in the way with them
  4. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. For their feet
  5. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. they
  6. Proverbs 1:16 Lit. blood quickly
  7. Proverbs 1:17 Lit. in the eyes of
  8. Proverbs 1:18 Lit. they
  9. Proverbs 1:18 The Heb. lacks their own

29 A violent man lures his neighbor,(A)
leading him in a way that is not good.(B)

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29 A violent man entices his companion
    and leads him on a path that is not good.

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26 A righteous person who yields to the wicked(A)
is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.(B)

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26 A muddied spring or a polluted well—
    that’s what a righteous person is
        who compromises with the wicked.

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A stone is heavy and sand, a burden,
but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

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Rocks are heavy,
    and sand is weighty,
        but a fool’s provocation outweighs them both.

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10 The one who leads the upright into an evil way
will fall into his own pit,(A)
but the blameless will inherit what is good.(B)

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10 Whoever misleads the upright along an evil way
    will himself fall into his own pit,
        but the blameless will inherit what is good.

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