10 My son, if sinners (A)entice you,
(B)Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let’s (C)lie in wait for blood,
Let’s (D)ambush the innocent without cause;
12 Let’s (E)swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, like those who (F)go down to the pit;
13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with plunder;
14 Throw in your lot [a]with us;
We will all have one money bag,”
15 My son, (G)do not walk on the way with them.
(H)Keep your feet from their path,
16 For (I)their feet run to evil,
And they are quick to shed blood.
17 Indeed, it is [b]useless to spread the baited net
In the sight of any [c]bird;
18 But they (J)lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who (K)makes unjust gain;
It takes away the life of its possessors.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 1:14 Lit in the midst of us
  2. Proverbs 1:17 Lit in vain
  3. Proverbs 1:17 Lit possessor of wing

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 person of violence (A)entices his neighbor
And leads him in a way that is not good.

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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 Like a (A)trampled spring and a [a]polluted well,
So is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:26 Lit ruined

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 the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

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

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10 One who leads the upright astray in an evil way
Will (A)himself fall into his own pit,
But the (B)blameless will inherit good.

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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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