Proverbs
6 My son, if you have put up security* for your neighbor,+
If you have given your handshake* to a stranger,+
2 If you have been ensnared by your promise,
Caught by the words of your mouth,+
3 Do this, my son, and free yourself,
For you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor:
Go and humble yourself and urgently plead with your neighbor.+
4 Do not allow your eyes to sleep,
Nor your eyelids to slumber.
5 Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
Like a bird from the hand of the birdcatcher.
6 Go to the ant, you lazy one;+
Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Although it has no commander, officer, or ruler,
8 It prepares its food in the summer,+
And it gathers its food supplies in the harvest.
9 How long, you lazy one, will you lie there?
When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumbering,
A little folding of the hands to rest,+
11 And your poverty will come like a bandit,
And your want like an armed man.+
12 A useless and wicked man walks about with crooked speech;+
13 He winks with his eye,+ signals with his foot, and motions with his fingers.
15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
In a moment he will be broken beyond healing.+
17 Haughty eyes,+ a lying tongue,+ and hands that shed innocent blood,+
18 A heart plotting wicked schemes,+ and feet that run quickly to evil,
19 A false witness who lies with every breath,+
And anyone sowing contentions among brothers.+
20 Observe, my son, the commandment of your father,
21 Always bind them around your heart;
Tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk about, it will lead you;
When you lie down, it will stand guard over you;
And when you awaken, it will speak to you.*
23 For the commandment is a lamp,+
And the law is a light,+
And the reproofs of discipline are the way to life.+
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart+
Or allow her to captivate you with her alluring eyes,
26 For because of a prostitute, a man is reduced to a loaf of bread,+
But the wife of another man preys on a precious life.*
27 Can a man rake fire to his chest and not burn his garments?+
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
29 It is the same with anyone having relations with his neighbor’s wife;
No one who touches her will go unpunished.+
30 People do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy himself* when he is hungry.
31 Yet, when found, he will repay sevenfold;
He will give up all the valuables of his house.+
32 Anyone committing adultery with a woman is lacking good sense;*
34 For jealousy makes a husband furious;
He will show no compassion when he takes revenge.+
35 He will accept no compensation;*
He will not be appeased, no matter how large you make the gift.