Proverbs 1:8-19 - Lecture Against Gang Behavior

⁸ My son, listen to your father's instruction, and don't forsake your mother's teaching: ⁹ for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, don't consent. ¹¹ If they say, "Come with us, Let's lay in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; ¹² let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit. ¹³ We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil. ¹⁴ You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse." ¹⁵ My son, don't walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path, ¹⁶ for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood. ¹⁷ For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird: ¹⁸ but these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. ¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.