Bible Reading Plan

¹ My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor^[a]
or entered into an agreement with^[b] a stranger,^[c](a)
2 you have been trapped by the words of your lips^[d]—
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³ Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor's power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
⁴ Don't give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.^(b)
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,^[e]
like a bird from a fowler's trap.^[f](c)

⁶ Go to the ant,^(d) you slacker!^(e)
Observe its ways and become wise.
⁷ Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
⁸ it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.^(f)
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,^(g)
11 and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.^(h)

¹² A worthless person,⁽ⁱ⁾ a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,^(j)
13 winking^(k) his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
¹⁴ He always plots evil^(l) with perversity in his heart—
he stirs up trouble.^(m)
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly—beyond recovery.⁽ⁿ⁾

¹⁶ The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
¹⁷ arrogant eyes,^(o) a lying tongue,^(p)
hands that shed innocent blood,^(q)
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,^(r)
feet eager to run to evil,^(s)
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,^(t)
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.^(u)

²⁰ My son, keep your father's command,
and don't reject your mother's teaching.^(v)
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.^(w)
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
²³ For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,^(x)
and corrective discipline is the way to life.^(y)
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,^[g]
from the flattering^[h] tongue of a stranger.^(z)
25 Don't lust in your heart for her beauty^(aa)
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.^(ab)
26 For a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread,^[i]
but an adulteress^[j] goes after a precious life.^(ac)
27 Can a man embrace fire^[k]
and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man's wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.^(ad)
30 People don't despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.^(ae)
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;^(af)
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
³² The one who commits adultery^[l] lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.^(ag)
33 He will get a beating^[m] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
³⁴ For jealousy enrages a husband,^(ah)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

¹ My son, obey my words,
and treasure my commands.^(a)
2 Keep my commands and live;^(b)
protect my teachings
as the pupil of your eye.^(c)
3 Tie them to your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.^(d)
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"^(e)
and call understanding your relative.
⁵ She will keep you from a forbidden woman,
a stranger with her flattering talk.^(f)

⁶ At the window of my house
I looked through my lattice.^(g)
7 I saw among the inexperienced,^[a]
I noticed among the youths,
a young man lacking sense.
⁸ Crossing the street near her corner,
he strolled down the road to her house
⁹ at twilight, in the evening,
in the dark of the night.^(h)
10 A woman came to meet him
dressed like a prostitute,⁽ⁱ⁾
having a hidden agenda.^[b]
11 She is loud and defiant;^(j)
her feet do not stay at home.^(k)
12 Now in the street, now in the squares,^(l)
she lurks at every corner.^(m)
13 She grabs him and kisses him;
she brazenly says^[c] to him,
¹⁴ "I've made fellowship offerings;^[d]
today I've fulfilled my vows.^(n)
15 So I came out to meet you,
to search for you, and I've found you.
¹⁶ I've spread coverings on my bed^(o)—
richly colored linen from Egypt.^(p)
17 I've perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.^(q)
18 Come, let's drink deeply of lovemaking until morning.^(r)
Let's feast on each other's love!
¹⁹ My husband isn't home;
he went on a long journey.
²⁰ He took a bag of money with him
and will come home at the time of the full moon."
²¹ She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering^[e] talk.
²² He follows her impulsively
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding toward a trap^[f]
23 until an arrow pierces its^[g] liver,^(s)
like a bird darting into a snare^(t)—
he doesn't know it will cost him his life.

²⁴ Now, my sons, listen to me,
and pay attention to the words of my mouth.
²⁵ Don't let your heart turn aside to her ways;
don't stray onto her paths.^(u)
26 For she has brought many down to death;
her victims are countless.^[h]
27 Her house is the road to Sheol,
descending to the chambers of death.^(v)

¹ Doesn't Wisdom^(a) call out?
Doesn't Understanding make her voice heard?
² At the heights overlooking the road,
at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
³ Beside the gates^(b) at the entry to^[a] the city,
at the main entrance, she cries out:
⁴ "People, I call out to you;
my cry is to mankind.
⁵ Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.
⁶ Listen, for I speak of noble things,
and what my lips say is right.
⁷ For my mouth tells the truth,^(c)
and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
⁸ All the words of my mouth are righteous;
none of them are deceptive or perverse.^(d)
9 All of them are clear to the perceptive,^(e)
and right to those who discover knowledge.
¹⁰ Accept my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.^(f)
11 For wisdom is better than jewels,^(g)
and nothing desirable can compare with it.^(h) <