Proverbs 1:8-19 - Lecture Against Gang Behavior

⁸ Hear, my son, the correction of thy father, and do not reject the instruction of thy mother; ⁹ For, a wreath of beauty, shall they be to thy head, and chains of ornament, to thy neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice thee, do not consent. ¹¹ If they say - Come with us, - Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us watch in secret for him who is needlessly innocent; ¹² Let us engulf them, like hades, alive, While in health, like them who are going down to the pit; ¹³ All costly substance, shall we find, We shall fill our houses with spoil; ¹⁴ Thy lot, shalt thou cast into our midst, One purse, shall there be, for us all. ¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them, Withhold thy foot from their path. ¹⁶ For, their feet, to mischief, do run, and haste to the shedding of blood. ¹⁷ Surely, in vain, is spread the net, in the sight of aught that hath wings! ¹⁸ Yet, they, for their own blood, lie in wait, They watch in secret for their own life. ¹⁹ Such are the ways of every one that graspeth with greed, The life of the owners thereof, it taketh away!