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14 Don’t enter into the path of the wicked.
    Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, and don’t pass by it.
    Turn from it, and pass on.
16 For they don’t sleep unless they do evil.
    Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light
    that shines more and more until the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness.
    They don’t know what they stumble over.

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

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20 One who walks with wise men grows wise,
    but a companion of fools suffers harm.

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20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
    but the companion of fools suffers harm.(A)

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Stay away from a foolish man,
    for you won’t find knowledge on his lips.

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

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19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor,
    than to divide the plunder with the proud.

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19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor
    than to divide the spoil with the proud.

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19 He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets;
    therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

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19 A gossip reveals secrets;
    therefore do not associate with a babbler.(A)

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Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked:
    whoever guards his soul stays from them.

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Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
    the cautious will keep far from them.(A)

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24 Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man,
    and don’t associate with one who harbors anger:
25 lest you learn his ways,
    and ensnare your soul.

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24 Make no friends with those given to anger,
    and do not associate with hotheads,
25 lest you learn their ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.

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Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
    and don’t crave his delicacies:
    for as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his heart is not with you.
The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up,
    and lose your good words.

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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.

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Footnotes

  1. 23.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

20 Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine,
    or those who gorge themselves on meat:
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor;
    and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

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20 Do not be among winebibbers
    or among gluttonous eaters of meat,(A)
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.(B)

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24 Don’t be envious of evil men,
    neither desire to be with them;
for their hearts plot violence
    and their lips talk about mischief.

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24 Do not envy the wicked,
    nor desire to be with them,(A)
for their minds devise violence,
    and their lips talk of mischief.(B)

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21 My son, fear Yahweh and the king.
    Don’t join those who are rebellious;
22 for their calamity will rise suddenly.
    Who knows what destruction may come from them both?

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21 My child, fear the Lord and the king,
    and do not disobey either of them,[a](A)
22 for disaster comes from them suddenly,
    and who knows the ruin that both can bring?

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Footnotes

  1. 24.21 Gk: Heb do not associate with those who change