Proverbs 6
1 My son! If you have been guarantor for your friend, Have struck your hand for a stranger,
My son, if you have taken a pledge on behalf of your friend, then you have bound your hand to an outsider,
2 Have been snared with sayings of your mouth, Have been captured with sayings of your mouth,
then you are ensnared by the words of your own mouth, and taken captive by your own words.
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,
Therefore, my son, do what I say, and free yourself, for you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor. Run, hurry, awaken your friend.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, And slumber to your eyelids,
Do not grant sleep to your eyes, nor let your eyelids slumber.
5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Rescue yourself like a gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;
Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her ways, and so learn wisdom.
7 Which has no captain, overseer, and ruler,
For though she has no ruler, nor instructor, nor leader,
8 She prepares her bread in summer, She has gathered her food in harvest.
she provides meals for herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she may eat.
9 Until when, O slothful one, do you lie? When do you arise from your sleep?
How long will you slumber, you lazy one? When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,
You will sleep a little, you will slumber a little, you will fold your hands a little to sleep,
11 And your poverty has come as a traveler, And your want as an armed man.
and then destitution will meet with you, like a traveler, and poverty, like an armed man. Yet truly, if you would be diligent, then your harvest will arrive like a fountain, and destitution will flee far from you.
12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,
An apostate man, a harmful man, walks with a perverse mouth;
13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,
he winks with the eyes, touches with the foot, speaks with the finger.
14 Contrariness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, He sends forth contentions.
With a depraved heart he devises evil, and at all times he sows conflict.
15 Therefore his calamity comes suddenly, He is broken instantly—and no healing.
To this one, his perdition will arrive promptly, and he shall be crushed suddenly: he will no longer have any remedy.
16 These six has YHWH hated, Indeed, seven [are] abominations to His soul:
Six things there are that the Lord hates, and the seventh, his soul detests:
17 High eyes, False tongues, And hands shedding innocent blood,
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart devising thoughts of vanity, Feet hastening to run to evil,
a heart that devises the most wicked thoughts, feet running swiftly unto evil,
19 A false witness [who] breathes out lies, And one sending forth contentions between brothers.
a deceitful witness bringing forth lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20 Keep, my son, the command of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother.
My son, preserve the precepts of your father, and do not dismiss the law of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually, Tie them on your neck.
Bind them to your heart unceasingly, and encircle them around your throat.
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.
When you walk, let them keep step with you. When you sleep, let them guard you. And when you keep watch, speak with them.
23 For the command [is] a lamp, And the Law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,
For commandment is a lamp, and law is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.
24 To preserve you from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
So may they guard you from an evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the outsider.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, And do not let her take you with her eyelids.
Let not your heart desire her beauty; do not be captivated by her winks.
26 For a harlot consumes to a cake of bread, And an adulteress hunts the precious soul.
For the price of a prostitute is only one loaf. Yet the woman seizes the precious soul of a man.
27 Does a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burned?
Would a man be able to conceal fire in his bosom, so that his garments would not burn?
28 Does a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
Or could he walk over burning coals, so that his feet would not be burned?
29 So [is] he who has gone in to the wife of his neighbor, None who touches her is innocent.
So also, he who enters to the wife of his neighbor shall not be clean when he touches her.
30 They do not despise the thief, When he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,
Not so great is the fault when someone has stolen. For he steals so as to satisfy a hungry soul.
31 And being found he repays sevenfold, He gives all the substance of his house.
Also, if he is apprehended, he shall repay sevenfold and hand over all the substance of his house.
32 He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks heart, He who does it is destroying his soul.
But whoever is an adulterer, because of the emptiness of his heart, will destroy his own soul.
33 He finds a stroke and shame, And his reproach is not wiped away,
He gathers shame and dishonor to himself, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he does not spare in a day of vengeance.
For the jealousy and fury of the husband will not spare him on the day of vindication,
35 He does not accept the appearance of any atonement, Indeed, he does not consent, Though you multiply bribes!
nor will he agree to the pleadings of anyone, nor will he accept, as repayment, a multitude of gifts.
