Depending how you mark them, we have in our text today, the 5^th extended “My son” oracle of Proverbs. The parallels between the book of Proverbs and the 10 commandments (Ex 20:1-17) abound and this passage is no exception. Like the Law of Moses, Solomon's instructions here contain 8 prohibition statements. The corrigible son is exhorted in the 5^th oracle with as many “do not” commands as there are “Thou shalt not..” statements in the decalogue. Additionally parallel, the 1^st 3 “do nots” of Solomon are more vertically oriented, while the remaining 5 are explicitly with reference to human relationships. Solomon's lesson contains these elements organized in 3 distinct sections which establish our outline for today's message