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Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
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My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
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But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
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since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,
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since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord.
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Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
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Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
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Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
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The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.
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So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no rest!
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Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
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But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”
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Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.
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The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.
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Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.
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Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
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Truly the righteous attain life, but whoever pursues evil finds death.
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If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
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Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.
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Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.
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The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.
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Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things.
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A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
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Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.
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There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
