Warning Against the Enticement of Sinners

1:8 Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. 1:9 For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck. 1:10 My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent! 1:11 If they say, “Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously. 1:12 We will swallow them alive like Sheol, those full of vigor like those going down to the Pit. 1:13 We will seize all kinds of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder. 1:14 Join with us! We will all share equally in what we steal.” 1:15 My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path; 1:16 for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood. 1:17 Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird, 1:18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives! 1:19 Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it!

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

A child must listen to a father’s and mother’s instruction. Their teaching brings honor and beauty. Sinners may call for shared violence and stolen wealth, but their way leads to harm, self-destruction, and death.

This passage begins with a call to receive parental teaching. The father and mother are both named, showing that wisdom is passed down in the home. Their instruction is not empty advice. It is like a garland and ornaments, giving honor and visible beauty to life.

Then the sinners speak in a tempting voice. They invite the child to join them. They promise belonging, shared profit, and easy gain. But their plan is murder and robbery. Their words show that evil often comes as an attractive invitation, not only as open force.

The warning is clear: do not agree, do not go, and stay away from their path. The issue is not only outward action but inward consent. Their way is eager for harm and quick to shed blood.

The passage ends with a proverb-like truth. A bird can see a net when it is spread in the open. In the same way, these wicked men are setting a trap that will catch their own lives. Unjust gain does not truly profit. It takes life away from the one who seeks it.

• Parental instruction is meant to be received and obeyed.
• Wisdom gives honor and visible beauty to life.
• Sinners often entice through companionship and promises of gain.
• The specific danger here is violent greed and unjust robbery.
• Wisdom says not to consent, not to go, and not to share in evil.
• Unjust gain ends in self-destruction and death.

• Listen to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
• Do not consent when sinners try to entice you.
• Do not go with them or walk in their path.
• Do not join violence, robbery, or unjust profit.
• The warning is that this path is deathward and destroys life.

This passage belongs to the covenant life of God’s people, where wisdom is learned in the home and lived out in daily conduct. It fits the biblical pattern of two ways: life and death. It also points forward in the canon to the need for a truly wise and righteous Son who resists evil and walks the path of life.

Parents should teach, warn, and form their children in wisdom. Children and young people should not mistake a crowd for safety or a promise of quick gain for blessing. Some friendships and opportunities are spiritually dangerous. Believers should refuse violence, greed, and unjust gain before they become habits.

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