Proverbs 1:6-19

⁶He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

⁹That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.

¹¹If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:

¹²Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.

¹³We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.

¹⁴Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.

¹⁵My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.

¹⁸And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.

¹⁹So the wage of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.