Proverbs 6:1–9:18

My son, if thou abe surety for thy friend,

If thou hast astricken thy hand with a stranger,

2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,

Thou art btaken with the words of thy mouth.

3  Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,

When thou art come into the hand of thy friend;

Go, chumble thyself, ||and make sure thy friend.

4  dGive not sleep to thine eyes,

dNor slumber to thine eyelids.

5  Deliver thyself as a eroe from the hand of the hunter,

And fas a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  gGo to the hant, thou isluggard;

Consider her ways, and kbe wise:

7  lWhich having no mguide, noverseer, or ruler,

8  hProvideth her meat in the summer,

And ogathereth her food in the harvest.

9  How long wilt thou sleep, O isluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10  pYet a little dsleep, a little dslumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

11  qSo shall rthy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

12  rrA naughty person, a wicked man,

Walketh with a sfroward mouth.

13  He twinketh with his eyes,

He speaketh with his feet,

He teacheth with his fingers;

14  uFrowardness is in his heart,

xHe deviseth mischief continually;

He †soweth discord.

15  Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

ySuddenly shall he be broken zwithout remedy.

16  These asix things doth the Lord hate:

Yea, aseven are an abomination †unto him:

17  †A proud look, ba lying tongue,

And cehands that shed innocent blood,

18  dAn heart that deviseth ewicked imaginations,

efFeet that be swift in running to mischief,

19  A false witness gthat speaketh lies,

And he that hsoweth discord among brethren.

20  iMy son, keep thy father’s commandment,

And iforsake not the law of thy mother:

21  kBind them continually upon thine heart,

And ltie them about thy mneck.

22  nWhen thou goest, it shall lead thee;

nWhen thou sleepest, it oshall keep thee;

And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23  For the commandment is pa ||lamp; and the law is plight;

And ppreproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24  To keep thee from the evil woman,

From qthe flattery ||of the tongue of a rstrange woman.

25  sLust not after her beauty in thine heart;

Neither let her take thee with ther eyelids.

26  For uby means of a whorish woman a man is brought to xa piece of bread:

And †the adulteress will yhunt for zthe precious life.

27  Can a man atake bfire in chis bosom,

And his clothes not be burned?

28  Can one dgo upon hot coals,

And his feet not be dburned?

29  So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife;

Whosoever toucheth her shall not be ddinnocent.

30  Men do not despise a thief, if he steal

eTo satisfy his eesoul when he is hungry;

31  But if he fbe found, fhe shall restore gsevenfold;

He shall give all the substance of his house.

32  But whoso committeth adultery with a woman hlacketh †understanding:

He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33  A wound and dishonour shall he get;

And his reproach shall not be wiped away.

34  For ijealousy is the rage of a man:

Therefore he will not spare kin the day of vengeance.

35  †He will not regard any ransom;

Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

7 aMy son, keep my words,

And alay up my commandments with thee.

2  bKeep my commandments, and blive;

And my law as cthe apple of thine eye.

3  dBind them upon thy fingers,

dWrite them upon the table of thine heart.

4  Say unto wisdom, Thou art emy sister;

And call understanding thy fkinswoman:

5  gThat they may keep thee from the strange woman,

gFrom the stranger which flattereth with her words.

6  For hat the window of my house

hI looked through my casement,

7  And beheld among the isimple ones,

I discerned among †the youths,

A young man kvoid of understanding,

8  Passing through the lstreet near mher corner;

And he went the way to her house,

9  In the ntwilight, †in the evening,

In the oblack and dark night:

10  And, behold, oothere met him a woman

With pthe attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

11  (She is qloud and rstubborn;

sHer feet abide not in her house:

12  Now is she without, now in the streets,

And sslieth in wait at mevery corner.)

13  So she caught him, and kissed him,

And †with an impudent face said unto him,

14  †I have tpeace offerings with me;

This day have I upayed my vows.

15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee,

xDiligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16  I have decked my bed with ycoverings of tapestry,

With carved works, with zfine linen of Egypt.

17  I have aperfumed my bed

With bmyrrh, baloes, and ccinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning:

Let us solace ourselves with loves.

19  For the dgoodman is not at home,

He is gone a long journey:

20  He hath taken a ebag of money †with him,

And will come home at ||the day appointed.

21  With her much ffair speech she caused him to yield,

With gthe flattering of her lips she forced him.

22  He goeth after her †straightway,

As an ox goeth to the slaughter,

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23  Till a dart strike through his liver;

hAs a bird hasteth to the snare,

And knoweth not that it is for his life.

24  ikHearken unto me now therefore, O ye children,

And kattend to the words of my mouth.

25  Let not thine heart ldecline to her ways,

Go not astray in her paths.

26  For she hath cast down many wounded:

Yea, mmany strong men have been slain by her.

27  nHer house is the way to hell,

Going down to othe chambers of death.

8 Doth not abwisdom cry?

And bunderstanding aput forth her voice?

2  She standeth in the top of chigh places, by the way

In the places of the paths.

3  She acrieth at the dgates, at the entry of cethe city,

At the coming in at the doors.

4  Unto you, O men, I call;

And my voice is to the sons of man.

5  O ye fsimple, understand fwisdom:

And, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

6  Hear; for I will speak of gexcellent things;

And the opening of my lips shall be hright things.

7  For my imouth shall kspeak truth;

And wickedness is †an abomination to my lips.

8  All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing †lfroward or lperverse in them.

9  They are all mplain to him that understandeth,

And right to them that find knowledge.

10  Receive my instruction, and not silver;

And knowledge rather than nchoice gold.

11  oFor wisdom is better than prubies;

And qall the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

12  I rwisdom dwell with ||prudence,

And find out knowledge of switty inventions.

13  tThe fear of the Lord is to uhate evil:

xPride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,

And ythe froward mouth, do I hate.

14  zCounsel is mine, and asound wisdom:

I am understanding; bI have strength.

15  cBy me kings reign,

And dprinces decree justice.

16  By me princes rule,

And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

17  eI love them that love me;

And fthose that gseek me early shall find me.

18  hiRiches and honour are with me;

Yea, durable iriches and irighteousness.

19  My fruit is jbetter than kgold, yea, than lfine gold;

And jmy revenue than kchoice silver.

20  I ||lead in the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of judgment:

21  That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance;

And I will fill their treasures.

22  mThe Lord npossessed me oin pthe beginning of his way,

Before his works qof old.

23  I was rset up from everlasting, from the beginning,

sOr ever the earth was.

24  When there were no tdepths, I was ubrought forth;

When there were no fountains abounding with water.

25  Before the mountains vwere settled,

wBefore the hills was I ubrought forth:

26  While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the ||fields,

Nor ||the xhighest part of the dust of the world.

27  When he yprepared the heavens, I was there:

When he zset ||a compass upon the face of the tdepth:

28  When he established the clouds above:

When he strengthened the fountains of the tdeep:

29  aWhen he gave to the sea bhis decree,

That the waters should not pass his commandment:

When he zappointed cthe foundations of the earth:

30  dThen I was by him, as eone brought up with him:

And I was daily his fdelight,

gRejoicing always before him;

31  gRejoicing in hthe habitable part of his earth;

And my fdelights were iwith the sons of men.

32  jNow therefore hearken unto me, O ye children:

For kblessed are they that keep my ways.

33  lHear instruction, and be wise,

And mrefuse it not.

34  nBlessed is the man othat heareth me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at the posts of my doors.

35  For whoso nfindeth me oofindeth life,

And shall †obtain favour of the Lord.

36  But he that psinneth against me qwrongeth his own soul:

All they that rhate me slove death.

9 aWisdom hath builded her house,

She hath hewn out her bseven cpillars:

2  dShe hath killed †her beasts; she hath emingled her wine;

She hath also ffurnished her table.

3  She hath sent forth gher maidens:

hShe crieth upon ithe highest places of the city,

4  jWhoso is simple, let him turn in hither:

As for jkhim that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

5  lCome, eat of my bread,

And drink of ethe wine which I have mingled.

6  Forsake mthe foolish, and slive;

And ngo in the way of understanding.

7  He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame:

And he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

8  oReprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee:

pRebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

9  Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser:

Teach a just man, and qhe will increase in learning.

10  rThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:

And rrthe knowledge of the holy is understanding.

11  sFor by me thy days shall be multiplied,

And sthe years of thy life shall be increased.

12  tIf thou be wise, thou shalt be wise ufor thyself:

But if thou scornest, wthou alone shalt bear it.

13  xA foolish woman is yclamorous:

She is simple, and zknoweth nothing.

14  For she sitteth at the door of her house,

On a seat in athe high places of the city,

15  To call passengers

Who bgo right on their ways:

16  cWhoso is simple, let him turn in hither:

And as for chim that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

17  dStolen waters are sweet,

And bread †eaten in secret is pleasant.

18  But he knoweth not ethat fthe dead are there;

And that her guests are in the depths of hell.