Proverbs 6
1 My son! If you have been guarantor for your friend, Have struck your hand for a stranger,
[My] son, if you become surety for your friend, you shall deliver your hand to an enemy.
2 Have been snared with sayings of your mouth, Have been captured with sayings of your mouth,
For a man's own lips become a strong snare to him, and he is caught with the lips of his own mouth.
3 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,
[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.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, And slumber to your eyelids,
Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber with your eyelids;
5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.
that you may deliver yourself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare.
6 Go to the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;
Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
7 Which has no captain, overseer, and ruler,
For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master,
8 She prepares her bread in summer, She has gathered her food in harvest.
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.
9 Until when, O slothful one, do you lie? When do you arise from your sleep?
How long will you lie, O sluggard? and when will you awake out of sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,
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.
11 And your poverty has come as a traveler, And your want as an armed man.
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.
12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,
A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good.
13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,
And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.
14 Contrariness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, He sends forth contentions.
[His] perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city.
15 Therefore his calamity comes suddenly, He is broken instantly—and no healing.
Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin.
16 These six has YHWH hated, Indeed, seven [are] abominations to His soul:
For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.
17 High eyes, False tongues, And hands shedding innocent blood,
The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just;
18 A heart devising thoughts of vanity, Feet hastening to run to evil,
and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —[are hateful to God].
19 A false witness [who] breathes out lies, And one sending forth contentions between brothers.
An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren.
20 Keep, my son, the command of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother.
[My] son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother:
21 Bind them on your heart continually, Tie them on your neck.
but bind them upon your soul continually, and hang them as a chain about your neck.
22 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.
Whenever you walk, lead this along and let it be with you; that it may talk with you when you wake.
23 For the command [is] a lamp, And the Law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,
For the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light; a way of life; reproof also and correction:
24 To preserve you from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
to keep you continually from a married woman, and from the calumny of a strange tongue.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, And do not let her take you with her eyelids.
Let not the desire of beauty overcome you, neither be you caught by your eyes, neither be captivated with her eyelids.
26 For a harlot consumes to a cake of bread, And an adulteress hunts the precious soul.
For the value of a harlot is as much as of one loaf; and a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.
27 Does a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burned?
Shall any one bind fire in his bosom, and not burn his garments?
28 Does a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
or will any one walk on coals of fire, and not burn his feet?
29 So [is] he who has gone in to the wife of his neighbor, None who touches her is innocent.
So is he that goes in to a married woman; he shall not be held guiltless, neither any one that touches her.
30 They do not despise the thief, When he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,
It is not to be wondered at if one should be taken stealing, for he steals that when hungry he may satisfy his soul:
31 And being found he repays sevenfold, He gives all the substance of his house.
but if he should be taken, he shall repay sevenfold, and shall deliver himself by giving all his goods.
32 He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks heart, He who does it is destroying his soul.
But the adulterer through lack of sense procures destruction to his soul.
33 He finds a stroke and shame, And his reproach is not wiped away,
He endures both pain and disgrace, and his reproach shall never be wiped off.
34 For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he does not spare in a day of vengeance.
For the soul of her husband is full of jealousy: he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He does not accept the appearance of any atonement, Indeed, he does not consent, Though you multiply bribes!
He will not forego [his] enmity for any ransom: neither will he be reconciled for many gifts.
