6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
If you have given your handshake to a stranger,
2 If you have been ensnared by your promise,
Caught by the words of your mouth,
3 Do this, my son, and free yourself,
For you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor:
Go and humble yourself and urgently plead with your neighbor.
4 Do not allow your eyes to sleep,
Nor your eyelids to slumber.
5 Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
Like a bird from the hand of the birdcatcher.
6 Go to the ant, you lazy one;
Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Although it has no commander, officer, or ruler,
8 It prepares its food in the summer,
And it gathers its food supplies in the harvest.
9 How long, you lazy one, will you lie there?
When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumbering,
A little folding of the hands to rest,
11 And your poverty will come like a bandit,
And your want like an armed man.
12 A useless and wicked man walks about with crooked speech;
13 He winks with his eye, signals with his foot, and motions with his fingers.
14 With a perverted heart,
He is always scheming evil and spreading contentions.
15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
In a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16 There are six things that Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} hates;
Yes, seven things that he detests:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart plotting wicked schemes, and feet that run quickly to evil,
19 A false witness who lies with every breath,
And anyone sowing contentions among brothers.
20 Observe, my son, the commandment of your father,
And do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
21 Always bind them around your heart;
Tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk about, it will lead you;
When you lie down, it will stand guard over you;
And when you awaken, it will speak to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law is a light,
And the reproofs of discipline are the way to life.
24 They will guard you against the bad woman,
Against the seductive tongue of the immoral woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart
Or allow her to captivate you with her alluring eyes,
26 For because of a prostitute, a man is reduced to a loaf of bread,
But the wife of another man preys on a precious life.
27 Can a man rake fire to his chest and not burn his garments?
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
29 It is the same with anyone having relations with his neighbor’s wife;
No one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry.
31 Yet, when found, he will repay sevenfold;
He will give up all the valuables of his house.
32 Anyone committing adultery with a woman is lacking good sense;
The one who does so brings ruin on himself.
33 He will get only wounds and dishonor,
And his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a husband furious;
He will show no compassion when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
He will not be appeased, no matter how large you make the gift.