Practical Warnings

6 My son, if you have put up esecurity for your neighbor,

have egiven your pledge for a stranger,

2  if you are fsnared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

3  then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten,1 and gplead urgently with your neighbor.

4  hGive your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5  save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,2

ilike a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  jGo to kthe ant, O lsluggard;

consider her ways, and mbe wise.

7  nWithout having any chief,

oofficer, or ruler,

8  she prepares her bread pin summer

and qgathers her food in harvest.

9  rHow long will you lie there, lO sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10  sA little sleep, a little slumber,

ta little sfolding of the hands to rest,

11  uand poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12  vA worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with wcrooked speech,

13  xwinks with his eyes, signals3 with his feet,

points with his finger,

14  with yperverted heart zdevises evil,

continually asowing discord;

15  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

bin a moment he will be broken cbeyond healing.

16  There are dsix things that the Lord hates,

dseven that are an abomination to him:

17  ehaughty eyes, fa lying tongue,

and ghands that shed innocent blood,

18  ha heart that devises wicked plans,

ifeet that make haste to run to evil,

19  ja false witness who kbreathes out lies,

and one who asows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20  lMy son, keep your father’s commandment,

land forsake not your mother’s teaching.

21  mBind them on your heart always;

ntie them around your neck.

22  oWhen you walk, they4 will lead you;

owhen you lie down, they will pwatch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23  For the commandment is qa lamp and the teaching a light,

and the rreproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24  to preserve you from the evil woman,5

from the smooth tongue of sthe adulteress.6

25  tDo not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her ueyelashes;

26  for vthe price of a prostitute is only wa loaf of bread,7

but a married woman8 xhunts down a precious life.

27  Can a man carry yfire next to his zchest

and his clothes not be burned?

28  Or can one awalk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched?

29  So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her bwill go unpunished.

30  People do not despise a thief if he steals

to csatisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31  but dif he is caught, he will pay esevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house.

32  He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself.

33  He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34  For fjealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when ghe takes revenge.

35  He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 hMy son, keep my words

and htreasure up my commandments with you;

2  ikeep my commandments and live;

keep my teaching as jthe apple of your eye;

3  kbind them on your fingers;

kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.

4  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call insight your intimate friend,

5  to keep you from lthe forbidden1 woman,

from lthe adulteress2 with her smooth words.

6  For at mthe window of my house

I have looked out through my lattice,

7  and I have seen among nthe simple,

I have perceived among the youths,

a young man olacking sense,

8  passing along the street pnear her corner,

taking the road to her house

9  in qthe twilight, in the evening,

at rthe time of night and darkness.

10  And behold, the woman meets him,

sdressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.3

11  She is tloud and uwayward;

vher feet do not stay at home;

12  now in the street, now in the market,

and wat every corner she xlies in wait.

13  She seizes him and kisses him,

and with ybold face she says to him,

14  “I had to zoffer sacrifices,4

and today I have apaid my vows;

15  so now I have come out to meet you,

to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16  I have spread my couch with bcoverings,

colored linens from cEgyptian linen;

17  I have perfumed my bed with dmyrrh,

aloes, and ecinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;

let us delight ourselves with love.

19  For fmy husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey;

20  he took a bag of money with him;

at full moon he will come home.”

21  With much seductive speech she persuades him;

with gher smooth talk she compels him.

22  All at once he follows her,

as an ox goes to the slaughter,

or as a stag is caught fast5

23  till an arrow pierces its liver;

as ha bird rushes into a snare;

he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24  And inow, O sons, listen to me,

and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25  Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;

do not stray into her paths,

26  for many a victim has she laid low,

and all her slain are ja mighty throng.

27  Her house is kthe way to Sheol,

going down to the chambers of death.

The Blessings of Wisdom

8 Does not lwisdom call?

Does not munderstanding raise her voice?

2  On nthe heights beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

3  beside othe gates in front of pthe town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

4  “To you, O qmen, I call,

and my cry is to qthe children of man.

5  O rsimple ones, learn sprudence;

O tfools, learn sense.

6  Hear, for I will speak unoble things,

and from my lips will come vwhat is right,

7  for my wmouth will utter truth;

wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8  All the words of my mouth are righteous;

there is nothing xtwisted or crooked in them.

9  They are all ystraight to him who understands,

and right to those who find knowledge.

10  zTake my instruction instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than choice gold,

11  afor wisdom is better than jewels,

and ball that you may desire cannot compare with her.

12  “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and I find knowledge and cdiscretion.

13  dThe fear of the Lord is ehatred of evil.

fPride and arrogance and the way of evil

and gperverted speech I hate.

14  I have hcounsel and isound wisdom;

I have insight; jI have strength.

15  By me kkings reign,

and rulers decree what is just;

16  by me princes rule,

and nobles, all who govern justly.1

17  lI love those who love me,

and mthose who seek me diligently find me.

18  nRiches and honor are with me,

oenduring wealth and orighteousness.

19  My fruit is pbetter than qgold, even fine gold,

and my yield than rchoice silver.

20  I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice,

21  granting an inheritance to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.

22  s“The Lord tpossessed2 me at the beginning of his work,3

the first of his acts uof old.

23  Ages ago I was vset up,

at the first, wbefore the beginning of the earth.

24  When there were no xdepths I was ybrought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

25  Before the mountains zhad been shaped,

abefore the hills, I was brought forth,

26  before he had made the earth with its fields,

or the first of the dust of the world.

27  When he bestablished the heavens, I was there;

when he drew ca circle on the face of the deep,

28  when he dmade firm the skies above,

when he established4 the fountains of the deep,

29  when he eassigned to the sea its flimit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out gthe foundations of the earth,

30  then hI was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his5 idelight,

rejoicing before him always,

31  jrejoicing in his kinhabited world

and delighting in the children of man.

32  “And now, lO sons, listen to me:

mblessed are those who keep my ways.

33  nHear instruction and be wise,

and do not neglect it.

34  oBlessed is the one who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting beside my doors.

35  For pwhoever finds me qfinds life

and robtains favor from the Lord,

36  but he who fails to find me sinjures himself;

all who thate me ulove death.”