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1.
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
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2.
if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
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3.
then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!
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4.
Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
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5.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
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6.
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
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7.
It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
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8.
yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
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9.
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
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10.
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--
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11.
and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
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12.
A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
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13.
who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,
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14.
who plots evil with deceit in his heart--he always stirs up dissension.
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15.
Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.
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16.
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
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17.
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
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18.
a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
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19.
a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
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20.
My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
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21.
Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.
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22.
When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
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23.
For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,
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24.
keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
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25.
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,
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26.
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
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27.
Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
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28.
Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
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29.
So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
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30.
Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
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31.
Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
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32.
But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
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33.
Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away;
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34.
for jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
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35.
He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.
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