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¹ My son, if thou have become surety for thy neighbour, - have struck for a stranger thy hands,² Thou hast been snared by the sayings of thy mouth, - thou hast been caught by the sayings of thy mouth.³ Do this then, my son, and deliver thyself, When thou hast come into the hand of thy neighbour, Go, haste thee, and urge thy neighbour;⁴ Do not give sleep to thine eyes, or slumber to thine eyelashes;⁵ Deliver thyself, as a gazelle out of the hand, and as a bird, out of the hand of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard, observe her ways, and be wise;⁷ Which, having no harvest, scribe, or ruler,⁸ Prepareth, in the summer, her food, hath collected, in the harvest, her sustenance.⁹ How long, O sluggard, wilt thou lie? how long ere thou rise from thy sleep?¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest: - ¹¹ So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.

¹² An abandoned man, a man of iniquity, is he who - goeth on in perversity of mouth;¹³ Winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his foot, pointeth with his fingers;¹⁴ Hath perverse things in his heart, deviseth mischief on every occasion, strifes, he sendeth forth.¹⁵ For this cause, suddenly cometh his doom, in a moment, shall he be torn in pieces and there be no mending.¹⁶ These six things, doth Yahweh hate, yea, seven, are the abomination of his soul: - ¹⁷ Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;¹⁸ A heart contriving iniquitous devices, feet hasting to run into mischief;¹⁹ One that uttereth lies - a false witness, and one sending forth strifes between brethren.

²⁰ Observe thou, my son, the commandment of thy father, and do not decline from the instruction of thy mother:²¹ Bind them upon thy heart continually, fasten them upon thy neck;²² When thou walkest abroad, it shall guide thee, when thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee, when thou wakest, it shall speak to thee:²³ For, a lamp, is the commandment, and, the instruction, a light, and, the way of life, are the reproofs of correction:²⁴ To keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.²⁵ Do not covet her beauty, in thy heart, neither let her take thee, by her eyelashes;²⁶ Because, for the sake of an impure woman, a man may be brought even to a cake of bread, - and, a man's wife, for a precious soul, may hunt!²⁷ Can a man snatch up fire in his bosom, and, his clothes, not be burned?²⁸ Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and, his feet, not be burned?²⁹ So, he that goeth in unto his neighbour's wife, no man shall be guiltless who toucheth her!³⁰ Men despise not a thief, when he stealeth, to satisfy his appetite, because he is famished;³¹ Yet, if found, he must pay back sevenfold, All the substance of his house, must he give:³² He that committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh sense, A destroyer of his own life, is he that doeth it;³³ Smiting and shame, shall he find, and, his reproach, shall not be wiped out;³⁴ For, jealousy, is the rage of a man, nor will he spare, in the day of avenging;³⁵ He will not look, at any ransom, neither will he consent, though thou increase the bribe.