1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger, | C | TOSK |
2 if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth, | C | TOSK |
3 then 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. | C | TOSK |
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. | C | TOSK |
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. | C | TOSK |
6 Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. | TOSK |
7 Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, | TOSK |
8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest. | TOSK |
9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? | TOSK |
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, | TOSK |
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit. | TOSK |
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth, | C | TOSK |
13 winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers. | C | TOSK |
14 With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord. | C | TOSK |
15 Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery. | C | TOSK |
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: | C¹ | C² | TOSK |
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, | C¹ | C² | TOSK |
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, | C¹ | C² | TOSK |
19 a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers. | C¹ | C² | TOSK |
20 My son, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching. | IP¹ | IP² | TOSK | TT¹ | TT¹ |
21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck. | IP | TOSK | TT |
22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. | IP | TOSK | TT |
23 For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life, | IP | TOSK | TT |
24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. | TOSK |
25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. | TOSK |
26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. | TOSK |
27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? | TOSK |
28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? | TOSK |
29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. | TOSK |
30 Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger. | TOSK |
31 Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house. | TOSK |
32 He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. | TOSK |
33 Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away. | TOSK |
34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance. | TOSK |
35 He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts. | TOSK |