My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
2
if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3
then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
4
Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5
save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6
Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7
Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
8
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
9
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
