The Enticement of Sin

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,

and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

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For they [are] a garland of grace on your head

and a pendant around your neck.

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My son, if sinners entice you,

do not yield [to them].

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If they say,“Come along, let us lie in wait for blood,

let us ambush the innocent without cause,

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let us swallow them alive like Sheol,

and whole like those descending into the Pit.

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We {will} find all manner of precious goods;

we {will} fill our houses with plunder.

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Throw in your lot with us;

let us all share one purse” —

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my son, do not walk the road with them

or set foot upon their path.

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For their feet run to evil,

and they are swift to shed blood.

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How futile [it is] to spread the net

where any bird can see it!

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But they lie in wait for their [own] blood;

they ambush their [own] lives.

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Such [is] the fate of all who are greedy,

whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

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