1 ¶ My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

2 t hou art snared with the words of thy mouth; thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

3 D o this now, my son, and deliver thyself, for thou hast fallen into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

4 G ive not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

5 E scape as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 ¶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise,

7 W ho having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 p rovides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.

9 H ow long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Y et a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 S o shall thy poverty come as one that travels and thy want as an armed man.

12 ¶ A wicked man of Belial walks with a perverse mouth.

13 H e winks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he teaches with his fingers;

14 t here is perversion in his heart; he devises evil continually; he sows discord.

15 T herefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

16 T hese six things does the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to evil,

19 a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.

20 ¶ My son, keep thy father’s commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother:

21 B ind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck.

22 W hen thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23 F or the commandment is fire, and the law is light; and reproofs of chastening are the way of life,

24 t o keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 L ust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyes.

26 F or by means of a whorish woman a man is reduced to a piece of bread, and the woman will hunt the precious soul of the man.

27 C an a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?

28 C an one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

29 S o is he that goes in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever touches her shall not be innocent.

30 M en do not take a thief lightly, even if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

31 a nd once he is taken, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

32 B ut whosoever commits adultery with a woman has a fault in his heart; he that does it corrupts his own soul.

33 A wound and dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall never be wiped away.

34 F or the jealous rage of a man will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35 H e will not regard any ransom; neither will he want to forgive, though thou givest many bribes.