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¹ My son, if thou art surety for thy friend, [if] thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,² Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.³ Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.⁴ Give not sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.⁵ Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter], and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:⁷ Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,⁸ Provideth her provisions in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest.⁹ How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?¹⁰ [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:¹¹ So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man.

¹² A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.¹³ He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;¹⁴ Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.¹⁵ Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.¹⁶ These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yes, seven [are] an abomination to him:¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.¹⁸ A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief,¹⁹ A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰ My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:²¹ Bind them continually upon thy heart, [and] tie them about thy neck.²² When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.²³ For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:²⁴ To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.²⁵ Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.²⁶ For by means of a lewd woman [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.²⁷ Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?²⁸ Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?²⁹ So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; whoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.³⁰ [Men] do not despise a thief, if he stealeth to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;³¹ But [if] he is found, he shall restore seven-fold; he shall give all the substance of his house.³² [But] whoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.³³ A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.³⁴ For jealousy [is] the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.³⁵ He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.