Proverbs 1:11-29
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If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood,
let’s waylay some harmless soul;
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let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13
we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
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throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse”—
15
my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
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for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.
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How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!
18
These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!
19
Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.
20
Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the public squares;
21
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
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“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23
If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
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But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
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since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
26
I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
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when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
29
Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord,