The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
The wicked are turned aside toward sin from the very beginning of life. That early turning shows how powerfully childhood training and associations shape character and set the direction of the later course. Habits taken up in youth tend to continue and persist through life. Yet youth is not fixed to one outcome, for young persons stand able to choose either path. They may choose virtue on the one hand or vice on the other.
The wicked are turned aside toward sin from the very beginning of life. That early turning shows how powerfully childhood training and associations shape character and set the direction of the later course. Habits taken up in youth tend to continue and persist through life. Yet youth is not fixed to one outcome, for young persons stand able to choose either path. They may choose virtue on the one hand or vice on the other.