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My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
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2 |
You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
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3 |
So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.
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4 |
Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
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5 |
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
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6 |
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
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7 |
Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
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8 |
Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
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9 |
How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
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10 |
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—
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11 |
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
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12 |
A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
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13 |
He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;
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14 |
Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
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15 |
Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
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16 |
These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
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17 |
A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
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18 |
A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
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19 |
A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
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20 |
My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
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21 |
Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
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22 |
When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
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23 |
For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
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24 |
To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
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25 |
Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
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26 |
For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
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27 |
Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
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28 |
Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
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29 |
So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
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30 |
People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
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31 |
Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
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32 |
Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
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33 |
Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.
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34 |
For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
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35 |
He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.
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