1* My son, if you have become surety to your neighbor,a

given your hand in pledge to another,

2You have been snared by the utterance of your lips,

caught by the words of your mouth;

3So do this, my son, to free yourself,

since you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:

Go, hurry, rouse your neighbor!

4Give no sleep to your eyes,

nor slumber to your eyelids;

5Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,

or like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6* Go to the ant,b O sluggard,

study her ways and learn wisdom;

7For though she has no chief,

no commander or ruler,

8She procures her food in the summer,

stores up her provisions in the harvest.

9How long, O sluggard, will you lie there?

when will you rise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the arms to rest—*

11Then poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like a brigand.

12* Scoundrels, villains, are they

who deal in crooked talk.

13Shifty of eye,

feet ever moving,

pointing with fingers,

14They have perversity in their hearts,

always plotting evil,

sowing discord.

15Therefore their doom comes suddenly;

in an instant they are crushed beyond cure.

16There are six things the Lord hates,

yes, seven* are an abomination to him;

17* Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

18A heart that plots wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to run to evil,

19The false witness who utters lies,

and the one who sows discord among kindred.

20Observe, my son, your father’s command,

and do not reject your mother’s teaching;

21Keep them fastened over your heart always,

tie them around your neck.

22When you lie down they* will watch over you,

when you wake, they will share your concerns;

wherever you turn, they will guide you.

23For the command is a lamp, and the teaching a light,

and a way to life are the reproofs that discipline,

24Keeping you from another’s wife,

from the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.c

25Do not lust in your heart after her beauty,

do not let her captivate you with her glance!d

26For the price of a harlot

may be scarcely a loaf of bread,

But a married woman

is a trap for your precious life.

27* Can a man take embers into his bosom,

and his garments not be burned?

28Or can a man walk on live coals,

and his feet not be scorched?

29So with him who sleeps with another’s wife—

none who touches her shall go unpunished.e

30Thieves are not despised

if out of hunger they steal to satisfy their appetite.

31Yet if caught they must pay back sevenfold,

yield up all the wealth of their house.

32But those who commit adultery have no sense;

those who do it destroy themselves.

33* They will be beaten and disgraced,

and their shame will not be wiped away;

34For passion enrages the husband,

he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;

35He will not consider any restitution,

nor be satisfied by your many bribes.