Proverbs 6
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
My son! If you have been guarantor for your friend, Have struck your hand for a stranger,
2 if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Have been snared with sayings of your mouth, Have been captured with sayings of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
Do this now, my son, and be delivered, For you have come into the hand of your friend. Go, trample on yourself, and strengthen your friend,
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
Do not give sleep to your eyes, And slumber to your eyelids,
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.
6 Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
Go to the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;
7 Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
Which has no captain, overseer, and ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
She prepares her bread in summer, She has gathered her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
Until when, O slothful one, do you lie? When do you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
And your poverty has come as a traveler, And your want as an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,
13 winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,
14 With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
Contrariness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, He sends forth contentions.
15 Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
Therefore his calamity comes suddenly, He is broken instantly—and no healing.
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
These six has YHWH hated, Indeed, seven [are] abominations to His soul:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
High eyes, False tongues, And hands shedding innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
A heart devising thoughts of vanity, Feet hastening to run to evil,
19 a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
A false witness [who] breathes out lies, And one sending forth contentions between brothers.
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Keep, my son, the command of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother.
21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
Bind them on your heart continually, Tie them on your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
In your going up and down, it leads you, In your lying down, it watches over you, And you have awoken—it talks [with] you.
23 For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
For the command [is] a lamp, And the Law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,
24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
To preserve you from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
Do not desire her beauty in your heart, And do not let her take you with her eyelids.
26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
For a harlot consumes to a cake of bread, And an adulteress hunts the precious soul.
27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
Does a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
Does a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
So [is] he who has gone in to the wife of his neighbor, None who touches her is innocent.
30 Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
They do not despise the thief, When he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,
31 Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
And being found he repays sevenfold, He gives all the substance of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks heart, He who does it is destroying his soul.
33 Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.
He finds a stroke and shame, And his reproach is not wiped away,
34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he does not spare in a day of vengeance.
35 He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.
He does not accept the appearance of any atonement, Indeed, he does not consent, Though you multiply bribes!
