1My son, if you set aside your money as a guarantee for your neighbor's loan,
if you gave your promise for a loan of someone you do not know,

2then you have laid a trap for yourself by your promise
and you have been caught by the words of your mouth.

3When you are caught by your words, my son, do this and save yourself,
since you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor;
go and humble yourself and make your case before your neighbor.

4Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber.

5Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6Look at the ant, you lazy person,
consider her ways, and be wise.

7It has no commander,
officer, or ruler,

8yet it prepares its food in the summer
and during the harvest it stores up what it will eat.

9How long will you sleep, you lazy person?
When will you rise from your sleep?

10“A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest”—

11and your poverty will come like a robber
and your needs like an armed soldier.

12A worthless person—a wicked man—
lives by the crookedness of his speech,

13winking his eyes, making signals with his feet
and pointing with his fingers.

14He plots evil with deceit in his heart;
he always stirs up discord.

15Therefore his disaster will overtake him in an instant;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

16There are six things that Yahweh hates,
seven that are disgusting to him.

17The eyes of a proud person, a tongue that lies,
hands that shed the blood of innocent people,

18a heart that invents wicked schemes,
feet that quickly run to do evil,

19a witness who breathes out lies
and one who sows discord among brothers.

20My son, obey the command of your father
and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

21Always bind them on your heart;
tie them about your neck.

22When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
and when you wake up, they will teach you.

23For the commands are a lamp, and the teaching is a light;
the corrections that come by instruction are the way of life.

24It keeps you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth words of an immoral woman.

25Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.

26Sleeping with a prostitute can cost the price of a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another may cost you your very life.

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

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

29So is the man who sleeps with his neighbor's wife;
the one who sleeps with her will not go unpunished.

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

31Yet if he is caught, he will pay back seven times what he stole;
he must give up everything of value in his house.

32The one who commits adultery has no sense;
the one who does it destroys himself.

33Wounds and shame are what he deserves
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34For jealousy makes a man furious;
he will show no mercy when he takes his revenge.

35He will accept no compensation
and he cannot be bought off, though you offer him many gifts.