1 My son, if you:
Have become guarantor for your friend,
Have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 Have been snared by the words of your own mouth,
Have been caught by the words of your mouth –
3 Do this at once, my son, and deliver yourself,
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go, humble yourself, and urge your friend.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand,
And like a bird from the hand of the trapper.
6 Go to the ant, you lazy one!
See her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no commander, overseer or ruler,
8 Provides her supplies in the summer,
Gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long would you lie down, O lazy one?
When do you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to lie down;
11 And your poverty shall come like a prowler,
And your need as an armed man.
12 A man of Beliya’al, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth,
13 Winks with his eyes,
shuffles his feet,
Points with his fingers;
14 Perverseness is in his heart,
Plotting evil at all times,
He sends out strife.
15 Therefore his calamity comes suddenly
Instantly he is broken,
And there is no healing.
16 These six 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 hates,
And seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
And hands shedding innocent blood,
18 A heart devising wicked schemes,
Feet quick to run to evil,
19 A false witness breathing out lies,
And one who causes strife among brothers.
20 My son, watch over your father’s command,
And do not forsake the Torah of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart always;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you are walking about, it leads you;
When you lie down, it guards you.
And when you have woken up,
It talks to you.
23 For the Command is a lamp,
And the Torah a light,
And reproofs of discipline a way of ḥai,
24 To guard you against an evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a strange woman.
25 Do not desire her prettiness in your heart;
Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26 For because of a whore is the crust of bread.
And an adulteress entraps a precious life.
27 Would a man take fire to his bosom,
And his garments not be burned?
28 Would a man walk on hot coals,
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbour’s wife;
None who touches her goes unpunished.
30 They do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught he repays sevenfold;
He gives all the wealth of his house.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart;
He who does it destroys his own ḥai.
33 He finds smiting and shame,
And his reproach is not wiped away.
34 For jealousy enrages a man,
And he does not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He does not regard any ransom,
Nor accept your bribe, however great!