¹ My son, if you have guaranteed the debt of your neighbor
    or the bond of a stranger,
² you have been trapped by the utterance of your lips,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³ To extricate yourself from this situation,
    this is what you must do, my son.
Since you have fallen into his power,
    go directly to your neighbor and plead with him.
⁴ Give your eyes no sleep,
    your eyelids no slumber.
⁵ Break free like a gazelle from a trap
    or like a bird from the grasp of a fowler.

⁶ Contemplate the ant, you sluggard;^[d]
    observe its ways and gain wisdom.
⁷ Even though it has no chief,
    no governor or ruler,
⁸ it stores its provisions throughout the summer
    and gathers its food at the time of harvest.
⁹ How long do you intend to lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you rise from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the arms to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will overtake you like a robber,
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹² A scoundrel,^[f] a villainous man, is he
    who specializes in crooked talk.
¹³ He winks with his eyes,
    gives signals with his feet,
    and makes gestures with his fingers.
¹⁴ His perverted heart is ever bent toward devising evil
    as he constantly sows discord.
¹⁵ Therefore, disaster will strike him suddenly;
    in an instant he will be crushed beyond recovery.

¹⁶ There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are abhorrent to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes,^[h] a lying tongue,
    hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes,^[i]
    feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹ a false witness^[j] who spews out lies,
    and one who sows dissension among brothers.

²⁰ Observe your father’s command, my son,
    and do not reject your mother’s teaching.
²¹ Bind them forever in your heart;
    tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    when you awaken, they will instruct you.
²³ For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light,^[l]
    and the corrections of discipline point the way to life,
²⁴ to preserve you from an immoral woman,
    from the seductive tongue of an adulteress.
²⁵ Do not lust after her beauty in your heart
    or allow her to entice you with her eyes.
²⁶ For if a prostitute seeks a loaf of bread,
    the adulteress endangers your very life.^[m]
27 Can a man kindle a fire in his bosom
    without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Or can a man walk on red-hot coals
    without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man
    who consorts with his neighbor’s wife;
    no one who touches her will escape punishment.
³⁰ People attach little blame to a thief
    if he steals only to satisfy his hunger.
³¹ However, once caught, he must pay back sevenfold^[n]
    and hand over all his household possessions.
³² But the one who commits adultery lacks sense;
    only someone who wants to destroy himself does so.
³³ He will get nothing but beatings and contempt,
    and his disgrace will never be wiped away.
³⁴ For jealousy inflames a husband’s anger,
    and he will be merciless in taking revenge.
³⁵ He will not consider any compensation,
    and he will reject even the most lavish gifts.