⁶ Go to the ant, you slacker! ^[1]
Observe its ways and become wise.
⁷ Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler,
⁸ it stores its food in summer.
It gathers its provisions at harvest time.
⁹ How long will you lie there, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of your hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
and scarcity will come on you like a warrior.

¹² A worthless, wicked scoundrel,
who goes around with a corrupt mouth,
¹³ who winks with his eye, signals with his foot,
and gestures with his fingers,
¹⁴ who plots evil with a deceitful heart—
he always spreads conflict.
¹⁵ Therefore his disaster will come upon him suddenly.
All at once he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

¹⁶ These are six things the Lord hates,
seven things that really disgust him:
¹⁷ arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that run quickly to do evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes lies,
and a person who spreads conflict between brothers.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commands,
and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.
²¹ Fasten them permanently to your heart,
and tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will stand guard over you.
When you wake up, they will converse with you,
²³ because a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and the warnings given by discipline are a road to life.
²⁴ They guard you from an evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of a woman who is not your wife.
²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart.
Do not let her captivate you with her eyes.
²⁶ A prostitute costs you a loaf of bread,
but a married woman stalks your precious life.
²⁷ Can a man place fire on his lap
    without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man who goes to his neighbor’s wife.
No one who touches her will be forgiven.
³⁰ No one despises a thief when he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving,
³¹ but when he is caught, he will have to repay seven times as much.
He will have to give up all the wealth of his house.
³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks sense.
He who does it destroys himself.
³³ He will find disease and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be wiped out,
³⁴ because jealousy ignites a husband’s anger,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not accept any amount as a payment.
He will not relent, even if you increase your offer.

⁶ At a window of my house, I looked out through the lattice.
⁷ I was watching the gullible ^[3] people.
Among the young men I noticed a youth without sense.
⁸ He was crossing the street near her corner,
strolling along the road to her house,
⁹ in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
when the darkness of the night was coming. ^[4]
10 Suddenly a woman meets him.
She is dressed like a prostitute with a scheming heart!
¹¹ She is loud and rebellious.
Her feet will not stay home.
¹² One moment she is in the street.
The next moment she is in the public square.
She is on the prowl near every corner.
¹³ She grabs him and kisses him.
With a brazen face she says,
¹⁴ “I have food from fellowship offerings.
Today I fulfilled my vows.
¹⁵ That is why I came out to meet you.
I came eagerly to seek you,
and now I have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my couch with a bedspread,
with colored cloth made of Egyptian yarn.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink our fill of love ^[5] until morning.
Let’s enjoy making love.
¹⁹ Look, my husband isn’t home.
He has gone on a long trip.
²⁰ He took a bag of silver with him.
He will not come home till the next full moon.”
²¹ She deceives him with enticing words.
With smooth lips she seduces him.
²² He follows right after her,
like a steer going to slaughter,
like a deer prancing into a noose, ^[6]
23     until an arrow pierces its liver,
like a bird darting into a trap.
He does not realize this will cost him his life.
²⁴ Now, you sons, listen to me.
Pay attention to the words from my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn in her direction.
Do not wander on her pathways,
²⁶ because she has brought down many victims.
Those she has killed are countless.
²⁷ Her house is on the road to the grave. ^[7]
It goes down to the chambers of death.