¹² To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things;

¹⁷ Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you,

³³ Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.

²⁰ Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise; But the companion of fools shall smart for it.

¹³ The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate.

³⁰ and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness.

⁴ None sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

⁵ They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

²⁸ A perverse man scattereth abroad strife; And a whisperer separateth chief friends.

²⁹ A man of violence enticeth his neighbor, And leadeth him in a way that is not good.

³⁰ He that shutteth his eyes, `it is' to devise perverse things: He that compresseth his lips bringeth evil to pass.

⁶ Leave off, ye simple ones, and live; And walk in the way of understanding.

¹⁴ Enter not into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men.

¹⁵ Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on.

¹⁶ For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

³² For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; But his friendship is with the upright.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.

¹¹ If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

¹² Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³ We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴ Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse:

¹⁵ My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:

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

¹⁷ For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

¹⁸ And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.

¹⁹ So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

⁴ Incline not my heart to any evil thing, To practise deeds of wickedness With men that work iniquity: And let me not eat of their dainties.

⁴ A perverse heart shall depart from me: I will know no evil thing.

⁴ I have not sat with men of falsehood; Neither will I go in with dissemblers.

⁵ I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked.

⁴ As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.

⁵ My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.