Proverbs 6
1 My son! If you have been guarantor for your friend, Have struck your hand for a stranger,
My son, if thou have become surety for thy neighbour, —have struck for a stranger thy hands,
2 Have been snared with sayings of your mouth, Have been captured with sayings of your mouth,
Thou hast been snared by the sayings of thy mouth, —thou hast been caught by the sayings 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,
Do this then, my son, and deliver thyself, When thou hast come into the hand of thy neighbour, Go, haste thee, and urge thy neighbour;
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, And slumber to your eyelids,
Do not give sleep to thine eyes, or slumber to thine eyelashes;
5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Deliver thyself, as a gazelle out of the hand, and as a bird, out of 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, observe her ways, and be wise;
7 Which has no captain, overseer, and ruler,
Which, having no harvest, scribe, or ruler,
8 She prepares her bread in summer, She has gathered her food in harvest.
Prepareth, in the summer, her food, hath collected, in the harvest, her sustenance.
9 Until when, O slothful one, do you lie? When do you arise from your sleep?
How long, O sluggard, wilt thou lie? how long ere thou rise from thy sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest: —
11 And your poverty has come as a traveler, And your want as an armed man.
So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.
12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,
An abandoned man, a man of iniquity, [is he] who—goeth on in perversity of mouth;
13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,
Winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his foot, pointeth with his fingers;
14 Contrariness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, He sends forth contentions.
[Hath] perverse things in his heart, deviseth mischief on every occasion, strifes, he sendeth forth.
15 Therefore his calamity comes suddenly, He is broken instantly—and no healing.
For this cause, suddenly cometh his doom, in a moment, shall he be torn in pieces and there be no mending.
16 These six has YHWH hated, Indeed, seven [are] abominations to His soul:
These six things, doth Yahweh hate, yea, seven, are the abomination of his soul: —
17 High eyes, False tongues, And hands shedding innocent blood,
Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;
18 A heart devising thoughts of vanity, Feet hastening to run to evil,
A heart contriving iniquitous devices, feet hasting to run into mischief;
19 A false witness [who] breathes out lies, And one sending forth contentions between brothers.
One that uttereth lies—a false witness, and one sending forth strifes between brethren.
20 Keep, my son, the command of your father, And do not leave the law of your mother.
Observe thou, my son, the commandment of thy father, and do not decline from the instruction of thy mother:
21 Bind them on your heart continually, Tie them on your neck.
Bind them upon thy heart continually, fasten them upon thy 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.
When thou walkest abroad, it shall guide thee, when thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee, when thou wakest, it shall speak to thee:
23 For the command [is] a lamp, And the Law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,
For, a lamp, is the commandment, and, the instruction, a light, and, the way of life, are the reproofs of correction:
24 To preserve you from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
To keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, And do not let her take you with her eyelids.
Do not covet her beauty, in thy heart, neither let her take thee, by her eyelashes;
26 For a harlot consumes to a cake of bread, And an adulteress hunts the precious soul.
Because, for the sake of an impure woman, [a man may be brought] even to a cake of bread, —and, a man’s wife, for a precious soul, may hunt!
27 Does a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burned?
Can a man snatch up fire in his bosom, and, his clothes, not be burned?
28 Does a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and, his feet, not be burned?
29 So [is] he who has gone in to the wife of his neighbor, None who touches her is innocent.
So, he that goeth in unto his neighbour’s wife, no man shall be guiltless who toucheth her!
30 They do not despise the thief, When he steals to fill his soul when he is hungry,
Men despise not a thief, when he stealeth, to satisfy his appetite, because he is famished;
31 And being found he repays sevenfold, He gives all the substance of his house.
Yet, if found, he must pay back sevenfold, All the substance of his house, must he give:
32 He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks heart, He who does it is destroying his soul.
He that committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh sense, A destroyer of his own life, is he that doeth it;
33 He finds a stroke and shame, And his reproach is not wiped away,
Smiting and shame, shall he find, and, his reproach, shall not be wiped out;
34 For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he does not spare in a day of vengeance.
For, jealousy, is the rage of a man, nor will he spare, in the day of avenging;
35 He does not accept the appearance of any atonement, Indeed, he does not consent, Though you multiply bribes!
He will not look, at any ransom, neither will he consent, though thou increase the bribe.
