14 (A)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they (B)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
    (C)and drink the wine of violence.
18 But (D)the path of the righteous is like (E)the light of dawn,
    which shines (F)brighter and brighter until (G)full day.
19 (H)The way of the wicked is like deep (I)darkness;
    they do not know over what they (J)stumble.

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14 Don’t go on the way of the wicked;
    don’t walk on the path of evil people.
15 Avoid it! Don’t turn onto it;
    stay off of it and keep going!
16 They don’t sleep unless they do evil;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of evil,
    and they drink the wine of violence.
18 The way of the righteous is like morning light
    that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day.
19 The path of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they don’t know where they will stumble.

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20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
    but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

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20 Walk with wise people and become wise;
    befriend fools and get in trouble.

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Leave the presence of a fool,
    for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

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Stay away from fools,
    for you won’t learn wise speech there.

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19 (A)It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor
    than to (B)divide the spoil with the proud.

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19 Better to be humble with the needy
    than to divide plunder with the proud.

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19 Whoever (A)goes about slandering reveals secrets;
    therefore do not associate with (B)a simple babbler.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:19 Hebrew with one who is simple in his lips

19 Gossips reveal secrets;
    don’t associate with those who talk too much.

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(A)Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
    whoever (B)guards his soul will keep far from them.

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Thorns and nets are in the path of the crooked;
    those who guard their lives keep their distance.

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24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.

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24 Don’t befriend people controlled by anger;
    don’t associate with hot-tempered people;
25     otherwise, you will learn their ways
    and become trapped.

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(A)Do not eat the bread of a man who is (B)stingy;[a]
    (C)do not desire his delicacies,
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[b]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his (D)heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
  2. Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:7 LXX; Heb uncertain

20 Be not among (A)drunkards[a]
    or among (B)gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and (C)slumber will clothe them with rags.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine

20 Don’t hang out with those who get drunk on wine
    or those who eat too much meat,
21     because drunks and gluttons will be impoverished;
    their stupor will clothe them in rags.

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24 Be not (A)envious of evil men,
    nor desire to be (B)with them,
for their hearts (C)devise violence,
    and their lips (D)talk of trouble.

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24 Don’t envy evil people,
    and don’t long to be with them.
Their hearts are focused on violence,
    and their lips speak of trouble.

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21 My son, (A)fear the Lord and the king,
    and do not join with those who do otherwise,
22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them,
    and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

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21 Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king.
    Don’t associate with those who are rebellious.
22 Disaster comes suddenly from them.
    Who can know the ruin that both can bring?

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