So ¹  take warning, Jerusalem, or I will abandon you in disgust ²  and make you desolate, a place where no one can live.”

lest you give your vigor ¹  to others and your years to a cruel person,

lest you learn ¹  his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. ² 

lest the one who hears it put you to shame and your infamy ¹  will never go away.

Be careful not to make ¹  a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare ²  among you.

But I fear the reaction ¹  of their enemies, for ²  their adversaries would misunderstand and say, “Our power is great, ³  and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Don’t report it in Gath, don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ¹  or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses,

So do not say, ¹  ‘We have found wisdom! God will refute ²  him, not man!’

Otherwise they will rip ¹  me ²  to shreds like a lion; they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me. ³ 

They will lift you up in their hands, so you will not slip and fall on a stone. ¹ 

Lest ¹  she should make level the path leading to life, ²  her paths are unstable ³  but she does not know it. ⁴ 

lest strangers devour ¹  your strength, ²  and your labor ³  benefit ⁴  another man’s house.

Do not reprove ¹  a mocker or ²  he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you.

lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ¹  and turn his wrath away from him. ² 

When you find ¹  honey, eat only what is sufficient for you, lest you become stuffed ²  with it and vomit it up. ³ 

Don’t set foot too frequently ¹  in your neighbor’s house, lest he become weary ²  of you and hate you.

Answer a fool according to his folly, ¹  lest he be wise in his own estimation. ² 

Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar. ¹ 

Do not slander ¹  a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you are found guilty. ²