Dangerous Promises

6 My son, if you become surety for your friend,If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,² You are snared by the words of your mouth;You are taken by the words of your mouth.³ So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;For you have come into the hand of your friend:Go and humble yourself;Plead with your friend.⁴ Give no sleep to your eyes,Nor slumber to your eyelids.⁵ Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.^[a]

The Folly of Indolence

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard!Consider her ways and be wise,⁷ Which, having no captain,Overseer or ruler,⁸ Provides her supplies in the summer,And gathers her food in the harvest.⁹ How long will you slumber, O sluggard?When will you rise from your sleep?¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to sleep—¹¹ So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

¹² A worthless person, a wicked man,Walks with a perverse mouth;¹³ He winks with his eyes,He shuffles his feet,He points with his fingers;¹⁴ Perversity is in his heart,He devises evil continually,He sows discord.¹⁵ Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

¹⁶ These six things the Lord hates,Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:¹⁷ A proud look,A lying tongue,Hands that shed innocent blood,¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,Feet that are swift in running to evil,¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,And one who sows discord among brethren.

Beware of Adultery

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command,And do not forsake the law of your mother.²¹ Bind them continually upon your heart;Tie them around your neck.²² When you roam, they^[b] will lead you;When you sleep, they will keep you;And when you awake, they will speak with you.²³ For the commandment is a lamp,And the law a light;Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,²⁴ To keep you from the evil woman,From the flattering tongue of a seductress.²⁵ Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.²⁶ For by means of a harlotA man is reduced to a crust of bread;And an adulteress^[c] will prey upon his precious life.²⁷ Can a man take fire to his bosom,And his clothes not be burned?²⁸ Can one walk on hot coals,And his feet not be seared?²⁹ So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

³⁰ People do not despise a thiefIf he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.³¹ Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold;He may have to give up all the substance of his house.³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;He who does so destroys his own soul.³³ Wounds and dishonor he will get,And his reproach will not be wiped away.³⁴ For jealousy is a husband’s fury;Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.³⁵ He will accept no recompense,Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.