Proverbs 6
1 My son, if you set aside your money as a guarantee for your neighbor's loan, if you gave your promise for a loan of someone you do not know,
My son, if thou have become surety for thy neighbour, —have struck for a stranger thy hands,
2 then you have laid a trap for yourself by your promise and you have been caught by the words of your mouth.
Thou hast been snared by the sayings of thy mouth, —thou hast been caught by the sayings of thy mouth.
3 When you are caught by your words, my son, do this and save yourself, since you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor; go and humble yourself and make your case before your neighbor.
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 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber.
Do not give sleep to thine eyes, or slumber to thine eyelashes;
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Deliver thyself, as a gazelle out of the hand, and as a bird, out of the hand of the fowler.
6 Look at the ant, you lazy person, consider her ways, and be wise.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard, observe her ways, and be wise;
7 It has no commander, officer, or ruler,
Which, having no harvest, scribe, or ruler,
8 yet it prepares its food in the summer and during the harvest it stores up what it will eat.
Prepareth, in the summer, her food, hath collected, in the harvest, her sustenance.
9 How long will you sleep, you lazy person? When will you rise 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 folding of the hands to rest”—
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest: —
11 and your poverty will come like a robber and your needs like an armed soldier.
So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.
12 A worthless person—a wicked man— lives by the crookedness of his speech,
An abandoned man, a man of iniquity, [is he] who—goeth on in perversity of mouth;
13 winking his eyes, making signals with his feet and pointing with his fingers.
Winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his foot, pointeth with his fingers;
14 He plots evil with deceit in his heart; he always stirs up discord.
[Hath] perverse things in his heart, deviseth mischief on every occasion, strifes, he sendeth forth.
15 Therefore his disaster will overtake him in an instant; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
For this cause, suddenly cometh his doom, in a moment, shall he be torn in pieces and there be no mending.
16 There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that are disgusting to him.
These six things, doth Yahweh hate, yea, seven, are the abomination of his soul: —
17 The eyes of a proud person, a tongue that lies, hands that shed the blood of innocent people,
Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;
18 a heart that invents wicked schemes, feet that quickly run to do evil,
A heart contriving iniquitous devices, feet hasting to run into mischief;
19 a witness who breathes out lies and one who sows discord among brothers.
One that uttereth lies—a false witness, and one sending forth strifes between brethren.
20 My son, obey the command of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
Observe thou, my son, the commandment of thy father, and do not decline from the instruction of thy mother:
21 Always bind them on your heart; tie them about your neck.
Bind them upon thy heart continually, fasten them upon thy neck;
22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you wake up, they will teach 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 commands are a lamp, and the teaching is a light; the corrections that come by instruction are the way of life.
For, a lamp, is the commandment, and, the instruction, a light, and, the way of life, are the reproofs of correction:
24 It keeps you from the immoral woman, from the smooth words of an immoral woman.
To keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.
Do not covet her beauty, in thy heart, neither let her take thee, by her eyelashes;
26 Sleeping with a prostitute can cost the price of a loaf of bread, but the wife of another may cost you your very life.
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 Can a man carry a fire against his chest without burning his clothes?
Can a man snatch up fire in his bosom, and, his clothes, not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and, his feet, not be burned?
29 So is the man who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; the one who sleeps with her will not go unpunished.
So, he that goeth in unto his neighbour’s wife, no man shall be guiltless who toucheth her!
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his need when he is hungry.
Men despise not a thief, when he stealeth, to satisfy his appetite, because he is famished;
31 Yet if he is caught, he will pay back seven times what he stole; he must give up everything of value in his house.
Yet, if found, he must pay back sevenfold, All the substance of his house, must he give:
32 The one who commits adultery has no sense; the one who does it destroys himself.
He that committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh sense, A destroyer of his own life, is he that doeth it;
33 Wounds and shame are what he deserves and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
Smiting and shame, shall he find, and, his reproach, shall not be wiped out;
34 For jealousy makes a man furious; he will show no mercy when he takes his revenge.
For, jealousy, is the rage of a man, nor will he spare, in the day of avenging;
35 He will accept no compensation and he cannot be bought off, though you offer him many gifts.
He will not look, at any ransom, neither will he consent, though thou increase the bribe.
