Proverbs 1:8-19 - Lecture Against Gang Behavior

⁸ My child, may you keep your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teachings, ⁹ for they [are] a garland of favor for your head, and pendants for your neck. ¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent. ¹¹ If they say, "Come with us! We shall lie in wait for blood; we shall ambush the innocent without cause. ¹² Like Sheol, we will swallow them alive and whole, {like those who descend to the pit}. ¹³ We shall find all precious wealth, we shall fill our houses [with] booty, ¹⁴ you shall throw your lot in our midst, there will be one purse for all of us." ¹⁵ My child, do not walk in their way. Keep your foot from their paths, ¹⁶ for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood, ¹⁷ for "in vain is the net scattered, in the sight of any {winged bird}." ¹⁸ They lie in wait for their [own] blood. They ambush their [own] lives. ¹⁹ Thus are the ways of all who are greedy [for] gain-- it will take the life of its possessors.