The father warns against guaranteeing a neighbour's debt, urges the lazy to learn from the ant, and lists six things the LORD hates and a seventh that is an abomination. He warns again against adultery.
1 My son , if thou be surety for thy friend , if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger ,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth , thou art taken with the words of thy mouth .
3 Do this now , my son , and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend ; go , humble thyself, and make sure thy friend .
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes , nor slumber to thine eyelids .
5 Deliver thyself 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 Which having no guide , overseer , or ruler ,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer , and gathereth her food in the harvest .
9 How long wilt thou sleep , O sluggard ? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep ?
10 Yet a little sleep , a little slumber , a little folding of the hands to sleep :
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth , and thy want as an armed man .
12 A naughty person , a wicked man , walketh with a froward mouth .
13 He winketh with his eyes , he speaketh with his feet , he teacheth with his fingers ;
14 Frowardness is in his heart , he deviseth mischief continually ; he soweth discord .
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly ; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy .
16 These six things doth the LORD hate : yea, seven are an abomination unto him :
17 A proud look , a lying tongue , and hands that shed innocent blood ,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations , feet that be swift in running to mischief ,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies , and he that soweth discord among brethren .
20 My son , keep thy father's commandment , and forsake not the law of thy mother :
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart , and tie them about thy neck .
22 When thou goest , it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest , it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest , it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp ; and the law is light ; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life :
24 To keep thee from the evil woman , from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman .
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart ; neither let her take thee with her eyelids .
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread : and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life .
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom , and his clothes not be burned ?
28 Can one go upon hot coals , and his feet not be burned ?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife ; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent .
30 Men do not despise a thief , if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry ;
31 But if he be found , he shall restore sevenfold ; he shall give all the substance of his house .
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding : he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul .
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get ; and his reproach shall not be wiped away .
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man : therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance .
35 He will not regard any ransom ; neither will he rest content , though thou givest many gifts .