Proverbs 13:20

The one who associates ¹  with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. ² 

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm.

Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.

He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

The one who associates ¹  with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. ² 

¹ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

² tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).