Parental Counsel
My son, if you have become asurety 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 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 need like an armed man.
12 A aworthless 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 strife.
15 Therefore ahis calamity will come suddenly;
bInstantly he will be broken and there will be cno healing.
16 There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, 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 plans,
bFeet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A afalse witness who utters lies,
And one who bspreads strife among brothers.
20 aMy son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 aBind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you awalk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
23 For athe commandment is a lamp and the teaching 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 adulteress.
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 asatisfy 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 sense;
He who would bdestroy himself 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,
Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts.
The Wiles of the Harlot
My son, akeep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 aKeep my commandments and live,
And my teaching bas the apple of your eye.
3 aBind them on your fingers;
bWrite them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend;
5 That they may keep you from an adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For aat the window of my house
I looked out bthrough my lattice,
7 And I saw among the anaive,
And discerned among the youths
A young man blacking sense,
8 Passing through the street near aher corner;
And he takes the way to bher house,
9 In the atwilight, in the evening,
In the middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
aDressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 She is aboisterous and rebellious,
Her bfeet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now ain the squares,
And blurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him
And with a abrazen face she says to him:
14 “I was due to offer apeace offerings;
Today I have bpaid my vows.
15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.
16 “I have spread my couch with acoverings,
With colored blinens of Egypt.
17 “I have sprinkled my bed
With amyrrh, aloes and bcinnamon.
18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with caresses.
19 “For my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a abag of money with him,
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her aflattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a abird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, alisten to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart aturn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has cast down,
And anumerous are all her slain.
27 Her ahouse is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.