1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor {rea: close companion}, if you have struck your palms for a stranger {zar: outsider}.
2 You have been snared {nokashta: ensnared} by the words {imrei: spoken utterances} of your mouth, you have been caught by the words of your mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and be delivered, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor; go, humble yourself {hitrapes: submit earnestly}, and plead {rehav: continually urge} with your neighbor.
4 Do not give sleep {shenah: deep rest} to your eyes or slumber {tnumah: light doze} to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand {yad: grasp of power}, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler {yakush: trap-layer}.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard {atsel: lazy one}; observe her ways and become wise {chakam: skillful in living}.
7 Which has no commander {katsin: commanding officer}, overseer, or ruler {moshel: one exercising authority}.
8 She prepares her bread {lakhmah: daily provision} in the summer and gathers her food at the harvest {baqatsir: ingathering season}.
9 Until when, O sluggard {atsel: habitually lazy person}, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep {shenah: physical rest}?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber {tenumot: brief rest}, a little folding {chibuk: deliberate idleness} of the hands to lie down.
11 Your poverty {reyshekha: crushing destitution} will come upon you like a traveler {kimhalekh: one who advances steadily}, and your lack will come upon you like an armed man.
12 A man of worthlessness {beli-yaal: utter moral failure}, a man of wickedness, walks with a crooked mouth {peh: instrument of speech}.
13 He winks {qoretz: covert glance} with his eyes, signals with his feet, and points {moreh: directs attention} with his fingers.
14 Perversity {tahpukhot: moral distortion} is in his heart; he plots evil at all times; he sends out strife {midyanim: conflict and discord}.
15 Therefore his calamity {eido: personal misfortune} will come suddenly; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no healing {marpe: recovery or cure}.
16 These six things the LORD {YHWH, Moral Judge} hates, and seven are an abomination to His soul {nefesh: innermost being}.
17 Lofty {ramot: mark of arrogance} eyes, a tongue of falsehood, and hands shedding innocent {naki: guiltless} blood.
18 A heart that devises {choresh: cunning planner} plans of wickedness, feet that hasten {memaharot: swift motion} to run toward evil.
19 A witness of falsehood {shaker: deliberate deceit} who breathes out lies, and one who sends out strife {medanim: quarrels and conflict} between brothers.
20 My son, keep the commandment {mitsvat: authoritative decree} of your father, and do not forsake the instruction {torat: moral guidance} of your mother.
21 Bind them continually upon your heart{libbekha: inner thoughts}, and tie them around your neck{gargerotekha: seat of speech}.
22 When you walk, it will lead {tanhe: actively guide} you; when you lie down, it will watch {tishmor: vigilantly protect} you; and when you awake, it will speak with you.
23 For the commandment {mitswah: appointed decree} is a lamp for your path, and the law is light; and the reproofs of discipline {musar: moral training} are the road of life.
24 To guard you from an evil woman and from the seductive speech{cheleqat: smooth flattery} of a foreign woman{nokhriyah: outsider}.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart {bilvavekha: center of emotions}, and do not let her capture you with her eyelids {beapapeyha: flirtatious glances}.
26 For because of a harlot {zonah: prostitute}, one is brought down to a loaf of bread, and a married woman hunts for a precious life {nefesh: innermost self}.
27 Can a man take fire {esh: consuming force} in his bosom {cheik: garment fold} and his clothes not be burned?
28 If a man walks upon the coals {ha-ghechalim: scorching embers}, will his feet not be burned {tikavenah: suffer burning}?
29 So it is with the one who goes in {haba: euphemistic expression} to the wife of his neighbor; no one who touches her will be held innocent {yinnāqeh: acquitted, declared guiltless}.
30 They do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his soul {nafesh: life force} because he is hungry {yirav: physical craving}.
31 But if he is found, he shall pay {yeshallem: obligatory restitution} sevenfold; he will give all the wealth {hon: material possessions} of his house.
32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman is lacking heart {lev: inner mind}; he is destroying his own soul {nephesh: life essence} by doing this.
33 He will find a wound {nega‘: physical injury} and dishonor, and his reproach {kherpato: social disgrace} will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the wrath {chemah: intense anger} of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance {nakam: retributive justice}.
35 He will not show regard for any ransom {kofer: payment to secure favor}, nor will he be willing even if you offer many gifts {shochad: improper offering}.