Proverbs

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. ⁹They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. ¹⁰My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. ¹¹If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; ¹²let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; ¹³we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;