1My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor,
and have become a guarantor for a stranger,

2if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered,
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,

3then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:
go, humble yourself,
and appeal firmly to your neighbor.

4Permit no sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.

5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,
and like a bird from the trap of the fowler.

6Go to the ant, you sluggard;
observe its ways and be wise!

7It has no commander,
overseer, or ruler,

8yet it prepares its food in the summer;
it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.

9How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax,

11and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need like an armed man.

12A worthless and wicked person
walks around saying perverse things;

13he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers;

14he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,
he spreads contention at all times.

15Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

16There are six things that the Lord hates,
even seven things that are an abomination to him:

17haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,

18a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that are swift to run to evil,

19a false witness who pours out lies,
and a person who spreads discord among family members.

20My child, guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

21Bind them on your heart continually;
fasten them around your neck.

22When you walk about, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.

23For the commandments are like a lamp,
instruction is like a light,
and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,

24by keeping you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.

25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty,
and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;

26for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.

27Can a man hold fire against his chest
without burning his clothes?

28Can a man walk on hot coals
without scorching his feet?

29So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will escape punishment.

30People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fulfill his need when he is hungry.

31Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over,
he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.

32A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,
whoever does it destroys his own life.

33He will be beaten and despised,
and his reproach will not be wiped away;

34for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage,
and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.

35He will not consider any compensation;
he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.