Old/New Testament

6 My son, if you have put up security for your friend,
if you committed yourself on behalf of another;
² you have been snared by the words of your mouth,
caught by the words of your own mouth.
³ Do this now, my son, and extricate yourself,
since you put yourself in your friend’s power:
go, humble yourself, and pester your friend;
⁴ give your eyes no sleep,
give your eyelids no rest;
⁵ break free, like a gazelle from the [hunter’s] trap,
like a bird from the grip of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, you lazybones!
Consider its ways, and be wise.
⁷ It has no chief, overseer or ruler;
⁸ yet it provides its food in summer
and gathers its supplies at harvest-time.
⁹ Lazybones! How long will you lie there in bed?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ “I’ll just lie here a bit, rest a little longer,
just fold my hands for a little more sleep” —
¹¹ and poverty comes marching in on you,
scarcity hits you like an invading soldier.

¹² A scoundrel, a vicious man,
lives by crooked speech,
¹³ winking his eyes, shuffling his feet,
pointing with his fingers.
¹⁴ With deceit in his heart,
he is always plotting evil and sowing discord.
¹⁵ Therefore disaster suddenly overcomes him;
unexpectedly, he is broken beyond repair.

¹⁶ There are six things Adonai hates,
seven which he detests:
¹⁷ a haughty look, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet swift in running to do evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who lies with every breath,
and him who sows strife among brothers.

²⁰ My son, obey your father’s command,
and don’t abandon your mother’s teaching.
²¹ Bind them always on your heart,
tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you wake up, they will talk with you.
²³ For the mitzvah is a lamp, Torah is light,
and reproofs that discipline are the way to life.

²⁴ They keep you from an evil woman,
from a loose woman’s seductive tongue.
²⁵ Don’t let your heart lust after her beauty
or allow her glance to captivate you.
²⁶ The price of a whore is a loaf of bread,
but the adulteress is hunting for a precious life.
²⁷ Can a man carry fire inside his shirt
without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Can a man walk [barefoot] on hot coals
without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So is he who has sex with his neighbor’s wife;
anyone touching her will be punished.
³⁰ A thief is not despised if he steals
only to satisfy his appetite when hungry;
³¹ but even he, if caught, must pay back sevenfold;
he may have to give up all the wealth that he owns.
³² He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
³³ He will get nothing but blows and contempt,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴ For jealousy drives a man into a rage;
he will show no mercy when he takes revenge;
³⁵ he will not accept compensation;
he’ll refuse every bribe, no matter how large.

7 My son, keep my words,
store up my commands with you.
² Obey my commands, and live;
guard my teaching like the pupil of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
call understanding your kinswoman;
⁵ so that they can keep you from unknown women,
from loose women with their seductive talk.

⁶ For I was at the window of my house,
glancing out through the lattice,
⁷ when I saw among the young men there,
among those who don’t think for themselves,
a young fellow devoid of all sense.
⁸ He crosses the street near her corner
and continues on toward her house.
⁹ Dusk turns into evening,
and finally night, dark and black.
¹⁰ Then a woman approaches him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
¹¹ She’s the coarse, impulsive type,
whose feet don’t stay at home;
¹² rather, she stalks the streets and squares,
lurking at every streetcorner.

¹³ She grabs him, gives him a kiss,
and, brazen-faced, she says to him,
¹⁴ “I had to offer peace sacrifices,
and I fulfilled my vows today.
¹⁵ This is why I came out to meet you,
to look for you; now I’ve found you.
¹⁶ I’ve spread quilts on my couch
made of colored Egyptian linen.
¹⁷ I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come on, let’s make love till morning;
we’ll enjoy making love.
¹⁹ My husband isn’t at home,
he’s gone on a long trip;
²⁰ he took a bag of money with him
and won’t be back till the moon is full.”

²¹ With all her sweet talk she convinces him,
enticing him with her seductive words.
²² At once he follows her
like an ox on its way to be slaughtered;
like a fool to be punished in the stocks;
²³ or like a bird rushing into a trap,
not knowing its life is at stake
till an arrow pierces its liver.

²⁴ So now, children, listen to me;
pay attention to what I am saying.
²⁵ Don’t let your heart turn to her ways;
don’t stray onto her paths.
²⁶ For many are those she has struck down dead,
numerous those she has killed.
²⁷ Her house is the way to Sh’ol;
it leads down to the halls of death.