1  My son, if you have ^fput up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger,

2  if you are ^gsnared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

3  then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten,¹ and plead urgently with your neighbor.

4  ^hGive your eyes ⁱno sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5  save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,²

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  ^jGo to the ^kant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

7  ^lWithout having any chief,

officer, or ruler,

8  she prepares her bread ^min summer

and gathers her food in harvest.

9  How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10  ⁿA little sleep, a little slumber,

a little ^ofolding of the hands to rest,

11  and ^ppoverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12  A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with ^qcrooked speech,

13  ^rwinks with his eyes, signals³ with his feet,

^spoints with his finger,

14  with perverted heart ^tdevises evil,

continually sowing ^udiscord;

15  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

^vin a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

16  There are ^wsix things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

17  haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

18  a heart that devises wicked plans,

^xfeet that make haste to run to evil,

19  a false witness who ^ybreathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.