Proverbs 1:8-20

New International Version

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

⁸Listen, my son,^(A) to your father’s^(B) instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^(C)
⁹They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.^(D)

¹⁰My son, if sinful men entice^(E) you,
    do not give in^(F) to them.^(G)
¹¹If they say, “Come along with us;
    let’s lie in wait^(H) for innocent blood,
    let’s ambush some harmless soul;
¹²let’s swallow^(I) them alive, like the grave,
    and whole, like those who go down to the pit;^(J)
¹³we will get all sorts of valuable things
    and fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴cast lots with us;
    we will all share the loot^(K)”—
¹⁵my son, do not go along with them,
    do not set foot^(L) on their paths;^(M)
¹⁶for their feet rush into evil,^(N)
    they are swift to shed blood.^(O)
¹⁷How useless to spread a net
    where every bird can see it!
¹⁸These men lie in wait^(P) for their own blood;
    they ambush only themselves!^(Q)
¹⁹Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
    it takes away the life of those who get it.^(R)