Proverbs 6
Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts1
6:1 My child,2 if you have made a pledge3 for your neighbor,
and4 have become a guarantor5 for a stranger,6
6:2 if7 you have been ensnared8 by the words you have uttered,9
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
6:3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,10
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:11
go, humble yourself,12
and appeal firmly13 to your neighbor.
6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes14
or slumber to your eyelids.
6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,15
and like a bird from the trap16 of the fowler.
6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;17
observe its ways and be wise!
overseer, or18 ruler,
6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;
it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.19
6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep?20
6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax,21
6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber,22
and your need like an armed man.23
6:12 A worthless and wicked person24
walks around saying perverse25 things;26
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers;27
6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts28 in his heart,
he spreads contention29 at all times.
6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant30 he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
even31 seven32 things that are an abomination to him:33
6:17 haughty eyes,34 a lying tongue,35
and hands that shed innocent blood,36
6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans,37
feet that are swift to run38 to evil,
6:19 a false witness who pours out lies,39
and a person who spreads discord40 among family members.41
6:20 My child, guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
6:21 Bind them42 on your heart continually;
fasten them around your neck.
6:22 When you walk about,43 they44 will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up,45 they will talk46 to you.
6:23 For the commandments47 are like48 a lamp,49
instruction is like a light,
and rebukes of discipline are like50 the road leading to life,51
6:24 by keeping52 you from the evil woman,53
from the smooth tongue of54 the loose woman.55
6:25 Do not lust56 in your heart for her beauty,
and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;57
6:26 for on account58 of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man59 preys on your precious life.60
6:27 Can a man hold61 fire62 against his chest63
without64 burning his clothes?
6:28 Can65 a man walk on hot coals
without scorching his feet?
6:29 So it is with66 the one who has sex with67 his neighbor’s wife;
no one68 who touches69 her will escape70 punishment.71
6:30 People72 do not despise a thief when he steals
to fulfill his need73 when he is hungry.
6:31 Yet74 if he is caught75 he must repay76 seven times over,
he might even have to give77 all the wealth of his house.
6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,78
whoever does it destroys his own life.79
6:33 He will be beaten and despised,80
and his reproach will not be wiped away;81
6:34 for jealousy kindles82 a husband’s83 rage,
and he will not show mercy84 when he takes revenge.
6:35 He will not consider85 any compensation;86
he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.87