1My son, suppose you have pledged to guarantee your neighbor's debt, or you have shaken hands in agreement with a stranger,

2then you've trapped yourself by what you promised, you've been caught by what you said.

3So this is what you have to do. You need to get out of it, because you've put yourself in that person's power. Go to your neighbor in all humility and ask him to release you from the commitment. ¹³

4Don't delay, saying that you'll sleep on it. Don't rest until you've done it.

5Get out of it like a gazelle escaping from a trap, like a bird from a bird-catcher's net.

6Go and observe the ants, you slacker! Learn from what they do and become wise.

7They don't have a leader, an officer, or a ruler,

8yet they work hard during the summer getting their food, gathering what they need during the harvest.

9So how long are you going to lie there, you slacker? When are you going to get up from your sleep?

10You may say, ¹⁴“Please, just a little more sleep, a little longer snooze, a little more folding of the arms to rest”—

11and poverty will attack you like a robber, destitution like an armed warrior.

12Rebellious and wicked people go around telling lies,

13winking slyly, giving sneaky foot gestures, rudely pointing with their fingers.

14Their warped minds plot evil schemes; they're always causing trouble.

15As a result, disaster falls suddenly on such people; in just a moment they're destroyed without hope of healing.

16There are six things that the Lord hates, seven things that he absolutely detests:

17arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that murder the innocent,

18a mind that plots evil schemes, feet that hurriedly run to do wrong,

19a false witness that speaks lies, those who caused arguments in families.

20My son, pay attention to your father's instruction, and don't reject your mother's teaching.

21Keep them always in mind. Tie them around your neck.

22They will lead you as you walk along; they will watch over you as you sleep; when you wake up they will talk with you.

23For the instruction is a lamp, and the teaching is a light. The correction that comes from discipline is the way to life.

24It will protect you from an evil woman and the seductive words of a prostitute.

25Don't let your mind lust after her beauty, or let her hypnotize you with her fluttering eyelashes.

26You can buy a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery with another man's wife can cost you your life.

27Can you put fire in your lap and not burn your clothes?

28Can you walk on hot coals and not scorch your feet?

29It's the same for anyone who sleeps with another man's wife. No one who touches her will remain unpunished.

30People don't condemn a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he's hungry.

31But if he's caught, he has to pay back seven times what he stole, even if it means handing over everything he has in his house.

32Any man who commits adultery with a woman has no sense; he who does so destroys himself.

33He will be wounded and dishonored. His disgrace will never be removed.

34For jealousy makes a husband furious, and he won't hold back when he takes revenge.

35He refuses any compensation, and won't be paid off, however big the amount.