Proverbs 6
1 My son! If you have been guarantor for your friend, Have struck your hand for a stranger,
My son, If thou hast become surety for thy friend, if thou hast struck thy hand for a stranger;
2 Have been snared with sayings of your mouth, Have been captured with sayings of your mouth,
If thou art ensnared through the words of thy mouth, if thou art caught through the words of thy 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,
[Then] do this by all means, my son, and deliver thyself, because thou art come into the power of thy friend, Go hasten to him, and urge thy friend.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, And slumber to your eyelids,
Grant not any sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.
5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Deliver thyself as a roebuck from the hand [of the hunter], and as 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, thou sluggard; look on her ways, and become wise.
7 Which has no captain, overseer, and ruler,
She, that hath no prince, officer, or ruler,
8 She prepares her bread in summer, She has gathered her food in harvest.
Provideth in the summer her provision, gathereth in harvest-time her food.
9 Until when, O slothful one, do you lie? When do you arise from your sleep?
How long, O sluggard, wilt thou lie down? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,
“A little [more] sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands in lying down;”
11 And your poverty has come as a traveler, And your want as an armed man.
But then will thy poverty come like a rover, and thy want as a man armed with a shield.
12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,
A Godless person is a man of injustice, who walketh with a distorted mouth.
13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,
He blinketh with his eyes, he scrapeth with his feet, he pointeth with his fingers;
14 Contrariness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, He sends forth contentions.
Perverseness is in his heart, he contriveth evil at all times; he scattereth abroad discord.
15 Therefore his calamity comes suddenly, He is broken instantly—and no healing.
Therefore shall suddenly come his calamity: unawares shalt he be broken without a remedy.
16 These six has YHWH hated, Indeed, seven [are] abominations to His soul:
Six things there are which the Lord hateth; and seven are an abomination unto his spirit:
17 High eyes, False tongues, And hands shedding innocent blood,
Haughty eyes, a tongue of falsehood, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart devising thoughts of vanity, Feet hastening to run to evil,
A heart that contriveth plans of injustice, feet that hasten to run after evil,
19 A false witness [who] breathes out lies, And one sending forth contentions between brothers.
A false witness that eagerly uttereth lies, and him that scattereth abroad discord among brethren.
20 Keep, my son, the command of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother.
Keep, O my son, the commandment of thy father, and reject not the teaching of thy mother:
21 Bind them on your heart continually, Tie them on your neck.
Bind them upon thy heart continually, tie them about thy 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 thou walkest, it shall lead thee; when thou liest down, it shall watch over thee; and when thou art awake, it shall converse with thee.
23 For the command [is] a lamp, And the Law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,
For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and the way of life are the admonitions of correction:
24 To preserve you from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
To guard thee against a bad woman, from the flattery of an alien tongue.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, And do not let her take you with her eyelids.
Covet not her beauty in thy heart, and let her not conquer thee with her eyelids.
26 For a harlot consumes to a cake of bread, And an adulteress hunts the precious soul.
For by means of a harlot [one is brought down] to the last loaf of bread: and an adulterous woman will even hunt for the precious life,
27 Does a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burned?
Can a man gather up fire in his lap, and shall his clothes not be burnt?
28 Does a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
Can a man walk along upon hot coals, and shall his feet not be burnt?
29 So [is] he who has gone in to the wife of his neighbor, None who touches her is innocent.
So it is with him that goeth in to his neighbor's wife: no one that toucheth her shall remain unpunished.
30 They do not despise the thief, When he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,
Men do not despise the thief, if he steal, to gratify his craving when he is hungry:
31 And being found he repays sevenfold, He gives all the substance of his house.
And if he be found, he must pay sevenfold; all the wealth his house must he give.
32 He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks heart, He who does it is destroying his soul.
But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh sense: he that is the destroyer of his soul, will alone do this.
33 He finds a stroke and shame, And his reproach is not wiped away,
Plague and disgrace will he meet with; and his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he does not spare in a day of vengeance.
For jealousy is the fury of a husband, and he will not spare on 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 regard the appearance of any ransom; and he will not be content, though thou give ever so many bribes.
