⁷ Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸ Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹² You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
13 I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴ And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷ Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸ May your fountain^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰ Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹ For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(AE)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷ It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer^(AF)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(AG)

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(AH)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(AI)—
¹¹ and poverty^(AJ) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹² A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³     who winks maliciously with his eye,^(AK)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(AL)
14     who plots evil^(AM) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(AN)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(AO)
    he will suddenly^(AP) be destroyed—without remedy.^(AQ)

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates,^(AR)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷         haughty eyes,^(AS)
        a lying tongue,^(AT)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(AU)
18         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(AV)
19         a false witness^(AW) who pours out lies^(AX)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(AY)

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶ For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(BF)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹ So is he who sleeps^(BG) with another man’s wife;^(BH)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰ People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹ Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^(BI)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³² But a man who commits adultery^(BJ) has no sense;^(BK)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³ Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never^(BL) be wiped away.

³⁴ For jealousy^(BM) arouses a husband’s fury,^(BN)
    and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not accept any compensation;
    he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^(BO)