Proverbs 6
1 [My] son, if you become surety for your friend, you shall deliver your hand to an enemy.
My son, if thou have become surety for thy neighbor, if thou have struck thy hands for a stranger,
2 For a man's own lips become a strong snare to him, and he is caught with the lips of his own mouth.
thou are snared with the words of thy mouth, thou are taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 [My] son, do what I command you, and deliver yourself; for on your friend's account you are come into the power of evil [men]: faint not, but stir up even your friend for whom you are become surety.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, since thou have come into the hand of thy neighbor. Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor.
4 Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber with your eyelids;
Do not give sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5 that you may deliver yourself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare.
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise.
7 For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master,
Which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
8 he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labours kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom.
provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie, O sluggard? and when will you awake out of sleep?
How long will thou sleep, O sluggard? When will thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 You sleep a little, and you rest a little, and you slumber a short [time], and you fold your arms over your breast a little.
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,
11 Then poverty comes upon you as an evil traveller, and lack as a swift courier: but if you be diligent, your harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier.
so thy poverty shall come as a robber, and thy want as an armed man.
12 A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good.
A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.
who winks with his eyes, who speaks with his feet, who makes signs with his fingers,
14 [His] perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city.
in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who sows discord.
15 Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin.
Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly he shall be broken, and that without remedy.
16 For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.
There are six things which Jehovah hates, yea, seven which are an abomination to him:
17 The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just;
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —[are hateful to God].
a heart that devises wicked purposes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren.
a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20 [My] son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother:
My son, keep the commandment of thy father, and do not forsake the law of thy mother.
21 but bind them upon your soul continually, and hang them as a chain about your neck.
Bind them continually upon thy heart. Tie them about thy neck.
22 Whenever you walk, lead this along and let it be with you; that it may talk with you when you wake.
When thou walk, it shall lead thee. When thou sleep, it shall watch over thee. And when thou awake, it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light; a way of life; reproof also and correction:
For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 to keep you continually from a married woman, and from the calumny of a strange tongue.
to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the stranger's tongue.
25 Let not the desire of beauty overcome you, neither be you caught by your eyes, neither be captivated with her eyelids.
Do not lust after her beauty in thy heart, nor let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 For the value of a harlot is as much as of one loaf; and a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.
For the price of a harlot is as much as a piece of bread, but the adulteress hunts for the precious life.
27 Shall any one bind fire in his bosom, and not burn his garments?
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 or will any one walk on coals of fire, and not burn his feet?
Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he that goes in to a married woman; he shall not be held guiltless, neither any one that touches her.
So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be unpunished.
30 It is not to be wondered at if one should be taken stealing, for he steals that when hungry he may satisfy his soul:
Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry.
31 but if he should be taken, he shall repay sevenfold, and shall deliver himself by giving all his goods.
Yet if he is found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house.
32 But the adulterer through lack of sense procures destruction to his soul.
He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who would destroy his own soul does it.
33 He endures both pain and disgrace, and his reproach shall never be wiped off.
Wounds and dishonor he shall get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For the soul of her husband is full of jealousy: he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
For jealousy is a man's fury, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not forego [his] enmity for any ransom: neither will he be reconciled for many gifts.
He will not regard any ransom, nor will he be satisfied, though thou give many gifts.
