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1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning about wisdom and instruction,
for understanding words of insight,
³for gaining instruction in wise dealing,
righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴to teach shrewdness to the simple,
knowledge and prudence to the young—
⁵let the wise also hear and gain in learning,
and the discerning acquire skill,
⁶to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles. ⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
⁹for they are a fair garland for your head,
and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰My child, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive
and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
¹³We shall find all kinds of costly things;
we shall fill our houses with booty.
¹⁴Throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵my child, do not walk in their way,
keep your foot from their paths;
¹⁶for their feet run to evil,
and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷For in vain is the net baited
while the bird is looking on;
¹⁸yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
and set an ambush—for their own lives!
¹⁹Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.