More Warnings

1 My child, have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts? 2Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises? 3Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you. 4Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest. 5Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.

6Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. 7They have no leader, chief, or ruler, 8but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter. 9How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? 10 “I'll just take a short nap,” he says; “I'll fold my hands and rest a while.” 11But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

12Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies. 13 They wink and make gestures to deceive you, 14all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere. 15Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.

16-19There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate:

A proud look,

a lying tongue,

hands that kill innocent people,

a mind that thinks up wicked plans,

feet that hurry off to do evil,

a witness who tells one lie after another,

and someone who stirs up trouble among friends.

Warning against Adultery

20Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you. 21Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart. 22Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day. 23Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live. 24It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives. 25Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes. 26A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.

27Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? 28Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet? 29It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer. 30People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;+ 31yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more—he must give up everything he has. 32But a man who commits adultery doesn't have any sense. He is just destroying himself. 33He will be dishonored and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced. 34A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits. 35He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.