| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor, and have become a guarantor for a stranger, | 1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, |
| 2if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered, and have been caught by the words you have spoken, | 2if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, |
| 3then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, because you have fallen into your neighbor's power: go, humble yourself, and appeal firmly to your neighbor. | 3then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. |
| 4Permit no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. | 4Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; |
| 5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, and like a bird from the trap of the fowler. | 5save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. |
| 6Go to the ant, you sluggard; observe its ways and be wise! | 6Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. |
| 7It has no commander, overseer, or ruler, | 7Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, |
| 8yet it prepares its food in the summer; it gathers at the harvest what it will eat. | 8she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. |
| 9How long, you sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep? | 9How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? |
| 10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, | 10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, |
| 11and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man. | 11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. |
| 12A worthless and wicked person walks around saying perverse things; | 12A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, |
| 13he winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, and points with his fingers; | 13winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, |
| 14he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart, he spreads contention at all times. | 14with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; |
| 15Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy. | 15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. |
| 16There are six things that the LORD hates, even seven things that are an abomination to him: | 16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: |
| 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, | 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, |
| 18a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, | 18a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, |
| 19a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who spreads discord among family members. | 19a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. |
| 20My child, guard the commands of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother. | 20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. |
| 21Bind them on your heart continually; fasten them around your neck. | 21Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. |
| 22When you walk about, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you. | 22When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. |
| 23For the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life, | 23For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, |
| 24by keeping you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the loose woman. | 24to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. |
| 25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes; | 25Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; |
| 26for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man preys on your precious life. | 26for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. |
| 27Can a man hold fire against his chest without burning his clothes? | 27Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? |
| 28Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? | 28Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? |
| 29So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will escape punishment. | 29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished. |
| 30People do not despise a thief when he steals to fulfill his need when he is hungry. | 30People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, |
| 31Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over, he might even have to give all the wealth of his house. | 31but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. |
| 32A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, whoever does it destroys his own life. | 32He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. |
| 33He will be beaten and despised, and his reproach will not be wiped away; | 33He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. |
| 34for jealousy kindles a husband's rage, and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge. | 34For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. |
| 35He will not consider any compensation; he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. | 35He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts. |
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