My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee;

Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee:

To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things;

To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words;

For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee.

Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart:

Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, And to-morrow I will give; When thou hast it by thee.

Devise not evil against thy neighbor, Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

Strive not with a man without cause, If he have done thee no harm.

Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee; Love her, and she will keep thee.

Exalt her, and she will promote thee; She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.

She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace; A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee.

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness.

Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee.

Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.

As a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.

When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue.

Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

My son, keep my words, And lay up my commandments with thee.

That they may keep thee from the strange woman, From the foreigner that flattereth with her words.

Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

Reprove not a scoffer, lest he hate thee: Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.

Say not thou, I will recompense evil: Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.

For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee, If they be established together upon thy lips.

That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.

Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?

If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee;

For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee.

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.

Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.

Prepare thy work without, And make it ready for thee in the field; And afterwards build thy house.

For better is it that it be said unto thee, Come up hither, Than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom thine eyes have seen.

Go not forth hastily to strive, Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.

Lest he that heareth it revile thee, And thine infamy turn not away.

Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbor's house, Lest he be weary of thee, and hate thee.

For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head, And Jehovah will reward thee.

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; A stranger, and not thine own lips.

Correct thy son, and he will give thee rest; Yea, he will give delight unto thy soul.

Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Two things have I asked of thee; Deny me them not before I die:

Lest I be full, and deny thee , and say, Who is Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, And use profanely the name of my God.

Slander not a servant unto his master, Lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.