3 My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments;

² for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee.

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thine heart.

⁴ So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding;

⁶ in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.

⁸ It shall be health to thy flesh and marrow to thy bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

¹⁰ so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction;

¹² for whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding;

¹⁴ for the merchandising of it is better than the merchandising of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her.

¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is everyone that retaineth her.

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens;

²⁰ by His knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹ My son, let not these depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion;

²² so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace around thy neck.

²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble;

²⁴ when thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh;

²⁶ for the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being snared.

²⁷ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

²⁸ Say not unto thy neighbor, “Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give,” when thou hast it with thee.

²⁹ Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely beside thee.

³⁰ Strive not with a man without cause if he has done thee no harm.

³¹ Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways;

³² for the froward is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous.

³³ The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesseth the habitation of the just.

³⁴ Surely He scorneth the scorners, but He giveth grace unto the lowly.

³⁵ The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

5 My son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding,

² that thou mayest have regard for discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³ For the lips of a strange woman drip as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

⁴ but her end is as bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are wandering, that thou canst not know them.

⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house,

⁹ lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel,

¹⁰ lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labors be in the house of a stranger,

¹¹ and thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹² and thou sayest, “How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof;

¹³ and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴ I was almost in total evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.”

¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

¹⁶ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and not for strangers with thee.

¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹ Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love.

²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his doings.

²² His own iniquities shall entrap the wicked himself, and he shall be held by the cords of his sins.

²³ He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly shall he go astray.

6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast struck thy hand with a stranger,

² thou art snared with the words of thy mouth; thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

³ Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself when thou hast come into the hand of thy friend: Go, humble thyself, so that thou shalt prevail with thy friend.

⁴ Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

⁵ Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶ Look to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

⁷ which, having no guide, overseer or ruler,

⁸ provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

⁹ How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

¹⁰ Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep”

¹¹ so shall thy poverty come as a marauder, and thy want as an armed man.

¹² A vile person, a wicked man walketh with a froward mouth;

¹³ he winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

¹⁴ frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually, he soweth discord.

¹⁵ Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:

¹⁷ a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸ a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹ a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰ My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.

²¹ Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

²² When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

²³ For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life

²⁴ to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

²⁵ Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

²⁶ For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought down to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

²⁷ Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸ Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

²⁹ So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

³⁰ Men do not despise a thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry.

³¹ But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

³² But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding; he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

³³ A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

³⁴ For jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance;

³⁵ he will not consider any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.