1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, Have given a pledge for a stranger,
2 [If] you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from [the hunter's] hand And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food in the summer [And] gathers her provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
10 |A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest|--
11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;
14 Who [with] perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.
16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness [who] utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
20 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.
