Practical Warnings
My son, if you have become a aguarantor for your neighbor,
Have struck your hands in 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 badger your neighbor.
4 Give no asleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a abird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the aant, O bsluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having ano chief,
Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food ain 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 “aA little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest”—
11 aYour poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your want like an armed man.
12 A avile person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a bperverse mouth,
13 Who awinks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
Who points with his fingers;
14 Who with aperversity in his heart continually bdevises evil,
Who cspreads contentions.
15 Therefore ahis disaster will come suddenly;
bInstantly he will be broken and there will be cno healing.
16 There are six things which Yahweh hates,
Even seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 aHaughty eyes, a blying tongue,
And hands that cshed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises awicked thoughts,
bFeet that hasten to run to evil,
19 A afalse witness who breathes out lies,
And one who bspreads strife among brothers.
Warning Against Adultery
20 aMy son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not abandon the law of your mother;
21 aBind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you awalk about, they will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;
And when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For athe commandment is a lamp and the law is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
24 To akeep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 aDo not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her beyelids.
26 For aon account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And an adulteress bhunts for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who agoes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her bwill not go unpunished.
30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To afill himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must arepay sevenfold;
He must give all the substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is alacking a heart of wisdom;
He who would bdestroy his soul does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For ajealousy enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the bday of vengeance.
35 He will not accept any ransom,
He will not be willing though you give many bribes.