Study Desk

My son, if you have become a ^(C1)guarantor for your neighbor, Or have given a handshake for a stranger,

If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth, Or caught by the words of your mouth,

Then do this, my son, and save yourself: Since you have come into the ^(F1)hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.

Give no ^(C1)sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;

Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter's hand, And like a ^(C1)bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ^(C1)ant, you ^(F1)(C2)lazy one, Observe its ways and be wise,

Which, having ^(C1)no chief, Officer, or ruler,

Prepares its food ^(C1)in the summer And gathers its provision in the harvest.

How long will you lie down, you ^(F1)lazy one? When will you arise from your sleep?

"^(C1)A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to ^(F1)rest,"

^(C1)Then your poverty will come in like a ^(F1)drifter, And your need like ^(F2)an armed man.

A ^(C1)worthless person, a wicked man, Is one who walks with a ^(C2)perverse mouth,

Who ^(C1)winks with his eyes, who ^(F1)signals with his feet, Who ^(F2)points with his fingers;

Who, with ^(C1)perversion in his heart, continually ^(C2)devises evil, Who ^(F1)(C3)spreads strife.

Therefore ^(C1)his disaster will come suddenly; ^(C2)Instantly he will be broken and there will be ^(C3)no healing.

There are six things that the LORD hates, Seven that are an abomination ^(F1)to Him:

^(C1)Haughty eyes, a ^(C2)lying tongue, And hands that ^(C3)shed innocent blood,

A heart that devises ^(C1)wicked plans, ^(C2)Feet that run rapidly to evil,

A ^(C1)false witness who declares lies, And one who ^(F1)(C2)spreads strife among brothers.

^(C1)My son, comply with the commandment of your father, And do not ignore the ^(F1)teaching of your mother;

^(C1)Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.

When you ^(C1)walk, ^(F1)they will guide you; When you sleep, ^(F1)they will watch over you; And when you awake, ^(F1)they will talk to you.

For ^(C1)the commandment is a lamp and the ^(F1)teaching is light; And rebukes for discipline are the way of life

To ^(C1)keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.

^(C1)Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her ^(C2)eyelids.

For ^(C1)the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread, And ^(F1)an adulteress ^(C2)hunts for a precious life.

Can anyone take fire in his lap And his clothes not be burned?

Or can a person walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

So is the one who ^(C1)goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her ^(C2)will not ^(F1)go unpunished.

People do not despise a thief if he steals To ^(C1)satisfy ^(F1)himself when he is hungry;

But when he is found, he must ^(C1)repay seven times as much; He must give up all the property of his house.

One who commits adultery with a woman is ^(C1)lacking ^(F1)sense; He who would ^(C2)destroy ^(F2)himself commits it.

He will find wounds and disgrace, And his shame will not be removed.

For ^(C1)jealousy ^(F1)enrages a man, And he will not have compassion on the ^(C2)day of vengeance.

He will not ^(F1)accept any settlement, Nor will he be ^(F2)satisfied though you make it a large gift.

My son, ^(C1)keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

^(C1)Keep my commandments and live, And my ^(F1)teaching ^(C2)as the ^(F2)apple of your eye.

^(C1)Bind them on your fingers; ^(C2)Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," And call understanding your intimate friend,

So that they may keep you from an ^(F1)adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.