1My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
         Have given a pledge for a stranger,

2If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
         Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

3Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
         Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
         Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

4Give no sleep to your eyes,
         Nor slumber to your eyelids;

5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
         And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6Go to the ant, O sluggard,
         Observe her ways and be wise,

7Which, having no chief,
         Officer or ruler,

8Prepares her food in the summer
         And gathers her provision in the harvest.

9How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
         When will you arise from your sleep?

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

11Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
         And your need like an armed man.

12A worthless person, a wicked man,
         Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,

13Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
         Who points with his fingers;

14Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
         Who spreads strife.

15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly;
         Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

16There are six things which the LORD hates,
         Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

17Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
         And hands that shed innocent blood,

18A heart that devises wicked plans,
         Feet that run rapidly to evil,

19A false witness who utters lies,
         And one who spreads strife among brothers.

20My son, observe the commandment of your father
         And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;

21Bind them continually on your heart;
         Tie them around your neck.

22When you walk about, they will guide you;
         When you sleep, they will watch over you;
         And when you awake, they will talk to you.

23For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
         And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

24To keep you from the evil woman,
         From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
         Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

26For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
         And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

27Can a man take fire in his bosom
         And his clothes not be burned?

28Or can a man walk on hot coals
         And his feet not be scorched?

29So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
         Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

30Men do not despise a thief if he steals
         To satisfy himself when he is hungry;

31But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold;
         He must give all the substance of his house.

32The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense;
         He who would destroy himself does it.

33Wounds and disgrace he will find,
         And his reproach will not be blotted out.

34For jealousy enrages a man,
         And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35He will not accept any ransom,
         Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts.

NASB ©1995