1: Dear friend, if you've gone into hock with your neighbor or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,
2: If you've impulsively promised the shirt off your back and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,
3: Friend, don't waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess. You're in that man's clutches! Go, put on a long face; act desperate.
4: Don't procrastinate--there's no time to lose.
5: Run like a deer from the hunter, fly like a bird from the trapper!
6: You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
7: Nobody has to tell it what to do.
8: All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
9: So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed?
10: A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy--do you know what comes next?
11: Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!
12: Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths.
13: They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross their fingers behind their backs.
14: Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty, always stirring up trouble.
15: Catastrophe is just around the corner for them, a total smash-up, their lives ruined beyond repair.
16: Here are six things GOD hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion:
17: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent,
18: a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track,
19: a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.
20: Good friend, follow your father's good advice; don't wander off from your mother's teachings.
21: Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck.
22: Wherever you walk, they'll guide you; whenever you rest, they'll guard you; when you wake up, they'll tell you what's next.
23: For sound advice is a beacon, good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path.
24: They'll protect you from wanton women, from the seductive talk of some temptress.
25: Don't lustfully fantasize on her beauty, nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes.
26: You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton woman may well eat you alive.
27: Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants?
28: Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get blisters?
29: It's the same when you have sex with your neighbor's wife: Touch her and you'll pay for it. No excuses.
30: Hunger is no excuse for a thief to steal;
31: When he's caught he has to pay it back, even if he has to put his whole house in hock.
32: Adultery is a brainless act, soul--destroying, self-destructive;
33: Expect a bloody nose, a black eye, and a reputation ruined for good.
34: For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated husband; wild for revenge, he won't make allowances.
35: Nothing you say or pay will make it all right; neither bribes nor reason will satisfy him.