Proverbs 13:20
Proverbs 13:2020He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
JWs cite alongside 1 Cor 15:33 ("bad associations spoil useful habits") as proof that companions shape character and that close friendships outside the organisation are spiritually risky. The verse is read as confirming the categorical separation policy: walking with the wise means walking with fellow Witnesses, and avoiding "fools" means avoiding worldly people.
The proverb is real and important — companions do shape character. But the test the verse names is wisdom and folly, not membership. A non-Witness Christian neighbour who walks faithfully with Christ is wise company; a nominal-JW elder who shields an abuser is not. commends discernment of character, which is precisely what the categorical-membership reading forecloses by collapsing every non-Witness into the category "fool" before any character has been weighed. Read alongside Jesus' practice of eating with tax collectors and sinners (, ), the verse is an invitation to wisdom-discernment, not a warrant for tribal sorting.