[1] My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
[2] if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
[3] then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
[4] Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
[5] Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
[6] Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
[7] Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
[8] it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
[9] How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
[10] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
[11] and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
[12] A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
[13] winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
[14] With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
[15] Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
[16] There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
[17] haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
[18] a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
[19] a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
[20] My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
[21] Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
[22] When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
[23] For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
[24] to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
[25] Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
[26] For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
[27] Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
[28] Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
[29] So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
[30] Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
[31] Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
[32] He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
[33] Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.
[34] For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
[35] He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.