10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 (A)discretion will (B)watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,

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10 Wisdom will enter your mind,
    and knowledge will fill you with delight.
11 Discretion will guard you;
    understanding will protect you.

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20 So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.

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20 So you should stay on the path of good people,
    guarding the road of the righteous.

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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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28 (A)A dishonest man spreads strife,
    and (B)a whisperer (C)separates close friends.

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28 Destructive people produce conflict;
    gossips alienate close friends.

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12 Let a man meet (A)a she-bear robbed of her cubs
    (B)rather than a fool in his folly.

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12 Safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
    than fools in their folly.

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17 (A)A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for adversity.

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17 Friends love all the time,
    and kinsfolk are born for times of trouble.

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24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but (A)there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

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24 There are persons for companionship,
    but then there are friends who are more loyal than family.

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(A)Wealth brings many new friends,
    (B)but a poor man is deserted by his friend.

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Riches increase one’s friends,
    but the poor lose their friends.

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Many seek the favor of a generous man,[a]
    and everyone is a friend to a man who gives (A)gifts.
(B)All a poor man's brothers hate him;
    (C)how much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursues them with words, but does not have them.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:6 Or of a noble
  2. Proverbs 19:7 The meaning of the Hebrew sentence is uncertain

Many seek favor from rulers;
    everyone befriends a gift giver.
All the relatives of the poor hate them;
    even more, their friends stay far from them.
    When they pursue them with words, they aren’t there.

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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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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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