Warnings against Foolishness

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

²if you have been trapped by the words of your lips,ensnared by the words of your mouth,

³then do this, my son, to free yourself,for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:Go, humble yourself,and press your plea with your neighbor.

⁴Allow no sleep to your eyesor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker;observe its ways and become wise.

⁷Without a commander,without an overseer or ruler,

⁸it prepares its provisions in summer;it gathers its food at harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, O slacker?When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,a little folding of the hands to rest,

¹¹and poverty will come upon you like a robber,and need like a bandit.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man,walks with a perverse mouth,

¹³winking his eyes, speaking with his feet,and pointing with his fingers.

¹⁴With deceit in his heart he devises evil;he continually sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

¹⁷haughty eyes,a lying tongue,hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes,feet that run swiftly to evil,

¹⁹a false witness who gives false testimony,and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

Warnings against Adultery

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment,and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

²¹Bind them always upon your heart;tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, they will guide you;when you lie down, they will watch over you;when you awake, they will speak to you.

²³For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light,and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

²⁴to keep you from the evil woman,from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beautyor let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

²⁷Can a man embrace fireand his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can a man walk on hot coalswithout scorching his feet?

²⁹So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise the thiefif he steals to satisfy his hunger.

³¹Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold;he must give up all the wealth of his house.

³²He who commits adultery lacks judgment;whoever does so destroys himself.

³³Wounds and dishonor will befall him,and his reproach will never be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy enrages a husband,and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not be appeased by any ransom,or persuaded by lavish gifts.

Do Not Envy

Saying 20

¹Do not envy wicked menor desire their company;

²for their hearts devise violence,and their lips declare trouble.

Saying 21

³By wisdom a house is builtand by understanding it is established;

⁴through knowledge its rooms are filledwith every precious and beautiful treasure.

Saying 22

⁵A wise man is strong,and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.

⁶Only with sound guidance should you wage war,and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.

Saying 23

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool;he does not open his mouth in the meeting place.

Saying 24

⁸He who plots evilwill be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin,and a mocker is detestable to men.

Saying 25

¹⁰If you faint in the day of distress,how small is your strength!

¹¹Rescue those being led away to death,and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,”does not He who weighs hearts consider it?Does not the One who guards your life know?Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

Saying 26

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good,and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

¹⁴Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul.If you find it, there is a future for you,and your hope will never be cut off.

Saying 27

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous;do not destroy his resting place.

¹⁶For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up;but the wicked stumble in bad times.

Saying 28

¹⁷Do not gloat when your enemy falls,and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see and disapprove,and turn His wrath away from him.

Saying 29

¹⁹Do not fret over evildoers,and do not be envious of the wicked.

²⁰For the evil man has no future;the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

Saying 30

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king,and do not associate with the rebellious.

²²For they will bring sudden destruction.Who knows what ruin they can bring?

Further Sayings of the Wise

²³These also are sayings of the wise:To show partiality in judgmentis not good.

²⁴Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,and rich blessing will come upon them.

²⁶An honest answer givenis like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field;after that, you may build your house.

²⁸Do not testify against your neighbor without cause,and do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;I will repay the man according to his work.”

³⁰I went past the field of a slackerand by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.

³¹Thorns had grown up everywhere,thistles had covered the ground,and the stone wall was broken down.

³²I observed and took it to heart;I looked and received instruction:

³³A little sleep, a little slumber,a little folding of the hands to rest,

³⁴and poverty will come upon you like a robber,and need like a bandit.

Warnings about the Adulteress

¹My son, keep my wordsand treasure my commandments within you.

²Keep my commandments and live;guard my teachings as the appleof your eye.

³Tie them to your fingers;write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”and call understanding your kinsman,

⁵that they may keep you from the adulteress,from the stranger with seductive words.

⁶For at the window of my houseI looked through the lattice.

⁷I saw among the simple,I noticed among the youths,a young man lacking judgment,

⁸crossing the street near her corner,strolling down the road to her house,

⁹at twilight, as the day was fadinginto the dark of the night.

¹⁰Then a woman came out to meet him,with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is loud and defiant;her feet do not remain at home.

¹²Now in the street, now in the squares,she lurks at every corner.

¹³She seizes him and kisses him;she brazenly says to him:

¹⁴“I have made my peace offerings;today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you;I sought you, and I have found you.

¹⁶I have decked my bed with coverings,with colored linen from Egypt.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,with aloes, and with cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning.Let us delight in loving caresses!

¹⁹For my husband is not at home;he has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He took with him a bag of moneyand will not return till the moon is full.”

²¹With her great persuasion she entices him;with her flattering lips she lures him.

²²He follows her on impulse,like an ox going to the slaughter,like a deer bounding into a trap,

²³until an arrow pierces his liver,like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now, my sons, listen to me,and attend to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways;do not stray into her paths.

²⁶For she has brought many down to death;her slain are many in number.

²⁷Her house is the road to Sheol,descending to the chambers of death.

The Benefits of Wisdom

¹My son, if you accept my wordsand hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdomand direct your heart to understanding,

³if you truly call out to insightand lift your voice to understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silverand search it out like hidden treasure,

⁵then you will discern the fear of the LORDand discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom;from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

⁸to guard the paths of justiceand protect the way of His saints.

⁹Then you will discern righteousnessand justice and equity—every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart,and knowledge will delight your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you,and understanding will guard you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil,from the man who speaks perversity,

¹³from those who leave the straight pathsto walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁴from those who enjoy doing eviland rejoice in the twistedness of evil,

¹⁵whose paths are crookedand whose ways are devious.

¹⁶It will rescue you from the forbidden woman,from the strangerwith seductive words

¹⁷who abandons the partner of her youthand forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house sinks down to death,and her tracks to the departed spirits.

¹⁹None who go to her returnor negotiate the paths of life.

²⁰So you will follow in the ways of the good,and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will inhabit the land,and the blameless will remain in it;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land,and the unfaithful will be uprooted.