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. |