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My child, 1 if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger -
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if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said -
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follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride;
go and beg to have your name erased.
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Don’t put it off; do it now!
Don’t rest until you do.
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Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.
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Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
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Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
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they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.
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But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?
When will you wake up?
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A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest -
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then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
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What are worthless and wicked people like?
They are constant liars,
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signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,
a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
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Their perverted hearts plot evil,
and they constantly stir up trouble.
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But they will be destroyed suddenly,
broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
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There are six things the Lord hates -
no, seven things he detests:
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haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
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a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
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a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.