Proverbs 6
Proverbs 6
6:1
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
6:2
if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
6:3
then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
6:4
Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
6:5
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6:6
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
6:7
Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
6:8
it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
6:9
How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
6:10
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
6:11
and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
6:12
A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
6:13
winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
6:14
With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
6:15
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
6:16
There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
6:17
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18
a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
6:19
a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
6:21
Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
6:22
When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
6:23
For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
6:24
to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
6:25
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
6:26
For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
6:27
Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
6:28
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
6:29
So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
6:30
Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
6:31
Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
6:32
He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
6:33
Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.
6:34
For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
6:35
He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.