Proverbs 6

FINANCIAL ENTANGLEMENTS

6My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor^B

or entered into an agreement with^C a stranger,^j

²you have been snared by the words of your mouth

trapped by the words from your mouth.

³Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,

for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:

Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.

⁴Don’t give sleep to your eyes

or slumber to your eyelids.^k

⁵Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,^D

like a bird from a hunter’s trap.^Dl

LAZINESS

⁶Go to the ant,^m you slacker!ⁿ

Observe its ways and become wise.

⁷Without leader, administrator, or ruler,

⁸it prepares its provisions in summer;

it gathers its food during harvest.^o

⁹How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?

When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the arms to rest,

¹¹and your poverty will come like a robber,

your need, like a bandit.^p

THE MALICIOUS MAN

¹²A worthless person,^q a wicked man

goes around speaking dishonestly,^r

¹³winking^s his eyes, signaling with his feet,

and gesturing with his fingers.

¹⁴He always plots evil^t with perversity in his heart;

he stirs up trouble.^u

¹⁵Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;

he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.^v

WHAT THE LORD HATES

¹⁶The Lord hates six things;

in fact, seven are detestable to him:

¹⁷arrogant eyes,^w a lying tongue,^x

hands that shed innocent blood,^y

¹⁸a heart that plots wicked schemes,^z

feet eager to run to evil,^aa

¹⁹a lying witness who gives false testimony,^ab

and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.^ac

WARNING AGAINST ADULTERY

²⁰My son, keep your father’s command,

and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.^ad

²¹Always bind them to your heart;

tie them around your neck.^ae

²²When you walk here and there, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, they will talk to you.

²³For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,^af

and corrective discipline is the way to life.^ag

²⁴They will protect you from an evil woman,^A

from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.^ah

²⁵Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty^a

or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.^b

²⁶For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,^B

but the wife of another man^C goes after a precious life.^c

²⁷Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can a man walk on burning coals

without scorching his feet?

²⁹So it is with the one who sleeps with

another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.^d

³⁰People don’t despise the thief if he steals

to satisfy himself when he is hungry.^e

³¹Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;^f

he must give up all the wealth in his house.

³²The one who commits adultery^D lacks sense;

whoever does so destroys himself.^g

³³He will get a beating^E and dishonor,

and his disgrace will never be removed.

³⁴For jealousy enrages a husband,^h

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will not be appeased by anything

or be persuaded by lavish bribes.