We will find and take all kinds of precious possessions,
We will fill our houses with spoil;

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
Greed takes away the lives of its possessors.

Take hold of instruction; [actively seek it, grip it firmly and] do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.

For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall.

Her feet go down to death;
Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

Can a man take fire to his chest
And his clothes not be burned?

“Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us console and delight ourselves with love.

He has taken a bag of money with him,
And he will come home on the appointed day.”

He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely,
But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished.

The righteousness of the upright will rescue them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

He who is slow to anger is better and more honorable than the mighty [soldier],
And he who rules and controls his own spirit, than he who captures a city.

[The judge tells the creditor], “Take the clothes of one who is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge [when he guarantees a loan] for foreigners.”

If you have nothing with which to pay [another’s debt when he defaults],
Why should his creditor take your bed from under you?

Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out [the pure metal for] a vessel for the silversmith [to shape].

Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.

Like one who grabs a dog by the ears [and is likely to be bitten]
Is he who, passing by, stops to meddle with a dispute that is none of his business.

[The judge tells the creditor,] “Take the garment of one who is surety (guarantees a loan) for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge when he is surety for an immoral woman [for it is unlikely the debt will be repaid].”

Every word of God is tested and refined [like silver];
He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.