[1] My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
[2] You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
[3] So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.
[4] Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
[5] Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
[6] Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
[7] Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
[8] Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
[9] How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
[10] A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—
[11] So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
[12] A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
[13] He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;
[14] Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
[15] Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
[16] These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
[17] A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
[18] A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
[19] A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
[20] My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
[21] Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
[22] When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
[23] For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
[24] To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
[25] Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
[26] For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
[27] Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
[28] Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
[29] So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
[30] People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
[31] Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
[32] Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
[33] Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.
[34] For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
[35] He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.