If they say, “Come with us;
Let us lie in wait to shed blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.

And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline,
And my heart despised correction and reproof!

Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says,

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks understanding (common sense), she says,

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin?”

“It is [almost] worthless, it is [almost] worthless,” says the buyer [as he negotiates the price];
But when he goes his way, then he boasts [about his bargain].

Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait [expectantly] for the Lord, and He will rescue and save you.

The lazy one [manufactures excuses and] says, “There is a lion outside!
I will be killed in the streets [if I go out to work]!”

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates].
He says to you, “Eat and drink,”
Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].

“They struck me, but I was not hurt!
They beat me, but I did not feel it!
When will I wake up?
I will seek more wine.”

If you [claim ignorance and] say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives?
And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul?
And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works?

He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him;

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for his deed.”

The lazy person [who is self-indulgent and relies on lame excuses] says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square [and if I go outside to work I will be killed]!”

So is the man who deceives his neighbor (acquaintance, friend)
And then says, “Was I not joking?”

He who robs his father or his mother
And says, “This is no sin,”
Is [not only a thief but also] the companion of a man who destroys.

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle:

The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:

So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I will not be poor and steal,
And so profane the name of my God.

The leech has two daughters,
“Give, give!”
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four that do not say, “It is enough”:

Sheol, and the barren womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “It is enough.”

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
And says, “I have done no wrong.”