• Dangerous Promises

  • 1 My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
  • 2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
  • 3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.
  • 4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
  • 5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

  • The Folly of Indolence

  • 6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
  • 7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
  • 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
  • 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
  • 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—
  • 11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

  • The Wicked Man

  • 12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
  • 13 He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;
  • 14 Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
  • 15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
  • 16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
  • 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
  • 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
  • 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

  • Beware of Adultery

  • 20 My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
  • 21 Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
  • 22 When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
  • 23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
  • 24 To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
  • 25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
  • 26 For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
  • 27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
  • 28 Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
  • 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
  • 30 People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
  • 31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
  • 32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
  • 33 Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.
  • 34 For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
  • 35 He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.