Proverbs 6–7

Chapter 6

Lessons for Daily Life

¹My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt

or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—

²if you have trapped yourself by your agreement

and are caught by what you said—

³follow my advice and save yourself,

for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.

Now swallow your pride;

go and beg to have your name erased.

⁴Don’t put it off; do it now!

Don’t rest until you do.

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,

like a bird fleeing from a net.

⁶Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.

Learn from their ways and become wise!

⁷Though they have no prince

or governor or ruler to make them work,

⁸they labor hard all summer,

gathering food for the winter.

⁹But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

When will you wake up?

¹⁰A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

¹¹then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

¹²What are worthless and wicked people like?

They are constant liars,

¹³signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,

a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

¹⁴Their perverted hearts plot evil,

and they constantly stir up trouble.

¹⁵But they will be destroyed suddenly,

broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates—

no, seven things he detests:

¹⁷haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that kill the innocent,

¹⁸a heart that plots evil,

feet that race to do wrong,

¹⁹a false witness who pours out lies,

a person who sows discord in a family.

²⁰My son, obey your father’s commands,

and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

²¹Keep their words always in your heart.

Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, their counsel will lead you.

When you sleep, they will protect you.

When you wake up, they will advise you.

²³For their command is a lamp

and their instruction a light;

their corrective discipline

is the way to life.

²⁴It will keep you from the immoral woman,

from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

²⁵Don’t lust for her beauty.

Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

²⁶For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,

but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

²⁷Can a man scoop a flame into his lap

and not have his clothes catch on fire?

²⁸Can he walk on hot coals

and not blister his feet?

²⁹So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.

He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

³⁰Excuses might be found for a thief

who steals because he is starving.

³¹But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,

even if he has to sell everything in his house.

³²But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,

for he destroys himself.

³³He will be wounded and disgraced.

His shame will never be erased.

³⁴For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will accept no compensation,

nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

Chapter 7

Another Warning about Immoral Women

¹Follow my advice, my son;

always treasure my commands.

²Obey my commands and live!

Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.

³Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.

Write them deep within your heart.

⁴Love wisdom like a sister;

make insight a beloved member of your family.

⁵Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,

from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

⁶While I was at the window of my house,

looking through the curtain,

⁷I saw some naive young men,

and one in particular who lacked common sense.

⁸He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman,

strolling down the path by her house.

⁹It was at twilight, in the evening,

as deep darkness fell.

¹⁰The woman approached him,

seductively dressed and sly of heart.

¹¹She was the brash, rebellious type,

never content to stay at home.

¹²She is often in the streets and markets,

soliciting at every corner.

¹³She threw her arms around him and kissed him,

and with a brazen look she said,

¹⁴“I’ve just made my peace offerings

and fulfilled my vows.

¹⁵You’re the one I was looking for!

I came out to find you, and here you are!

¹⁶My bed is spread with beautiful blankets,

with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.

¹⁷I’ve perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning.

Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,

¹⁹for my husband is not home.

He’s away on a long trip.

²⁰He has taken a wallet full of money with him

and won’t return until later this month.”

²¹So she seduced him with her pretty speech

and enticed him with her flattery.

²²He followed her at once,

like an ox going to the slaughter.

He was like a stag caught in a trap,

²³awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.

He was like a bird flying into a snare,

little knowing it would cost him his life.

²⁴So listen to me, my sons,

and pay attention to my words.

²⁵Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.

Don’t wander down her wayward path.

²⁶For she has been the ruin of many;

many men have been her victims.

²⁷Her house is the road to the grave.

Her bedroom is the den of death.