My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbour —{HR}Hast stricken thy hand for a stranger,
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,{HR}Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,{HR}Since thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour;{HR}Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbour.
Give not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Deliver thyself from the [hunter’s] hand,{HR}And as a bird from the fowler’s hand.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard;{HR}Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,{HR}[And] gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long, sluggard, wilt thou lie down?{HR}When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,{HR}A little folding of the hands to lie down!
So shall thy poverty come as a rover,{HR}And thy want as an armed man.
A man of Belial, a wicked person,{HR}Walketh with a perverse mouth.
He winketh with his eyes;{HR}He speaketh with his feet;{HR}He teacheth with his fingers.
Deceits [are] in his heart;{HR}He deviseth mischief at all times;{HR}He sendeth out discords.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;{HR}In a moment shall he be broken, and without remedy.
Six [things] Jehovah hateth,{HR}Yea, seven [are] an abomination of his soul:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,{HR}And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,{HR}Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
A false witness breathing out lies,{HR}And he that sendeth out discords among brethren.
My son, observe thy father’s commandment,{HR}and forsake not thy mother’s law.
Bind them continually on thy heart,{HR}Tie them about thy neck:
When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;{HR}When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee;{HR}And [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
For the commandment [is] a lamp,{HR}And the law a light,{HR}And reproofs of instruction the way of life:
To keep thee from the evil woman,{HR}From the smoothness of the tongue of a strange woman.
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart,{HR}Nor let her take thee with her eyelids;
For by means of a whorish woman [one cometh] to a piece of bread,{HR}And another’s wife doth hunt for the precious soul.
Can a man take fire in his bosom,{HR}And his garments not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals,{HR}And his feet not be scorched?
So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife:{HR}Whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
They do not despise a thief,{HR}If he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
And [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;{HR}He shall give all the substance of his house.
Whoso committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding;{HR}He [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
A wound and contempt shall he get;{HR}And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
For jealousy [is] the rage of a man,{HR}And he will not spare in the day of vengeance;
He will not regard any ransom,{HR}Neither will he rest content though thou multipliest gifts.