| 1 | My son, if you have become security for your neighbor, if you have given your pledge for a stranger
or
another, |
| 2 | You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth. |
| 3 | Do this now [at once and earnestly], my son, and deliver yourself when you have put yourself into the
[a]power of your neighbor; go, bestir
and
humble yourself, and beg your neighbor [to pay his debt and thereby release you]. |
| 4 | Give not [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; |
| 5 | Deliver yourself, as a roe
or
gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. |
| 6 | Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!— |
| 7 | Which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler, |
| 8 | Provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest. |
| 9 | How long will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? |
| 10 | Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down
and
sleep— |
| 11 | So will your poverty come like a robber
or
one who travels [with slowly but surely approaching steps] and your want like an armed man [making you helpless]. |
| 12 | A worthless person, a wicked man, is he who goes about with a perverse (contrary, wayward) mouth. |
| 13 | He winks with his eyes, he speaks by shuffling
or
tapping with his feet, he makes signs [to mislead and deceive]
and
teaches with his fingers. |
| 14 | Willful
and
contrary in his heart, he devises trouble, vexation,
and
evil continually; he lets loose discord
and
sows it. |
| 15 | Therefore upon him shall the crushing weight of calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken, and that without remedy. |
| 16 | These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: |
| 17 | A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, |
| 18 | A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts
and
plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, |
| 19 | A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. |
| 20 | My son, keep your father’s [God-given] commandment and forsake not the law of [God] your mother [taught you]. |
| 21 | Bind them continually upon your heart and tie them about your neck. |
| 22 | When you go, they [the words of your parents’ God] shall lead you; when you sleep, they shall keep you; and when you waken, they shall talk with you. |
| 23 | For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life, |
| 24 | To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a loose woman. |
| 25 | Lust not after her beauty in your heart, neither let her capture you with her eyelids. |
| 26 | For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress stalks
and
snares [as with a hook] the precious life [of a man]. |
| 27 | Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? |
| 28 | Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? |
| 29 | So he who cohabits with his neighbor’s wife [will be tortured with evil consequences and just retribution]; he who touches her shall not be innocent
or
go unpunished. |
| 30 | Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; |
| 31 | But if he is found out, he must restore seven times [what he stole]; he must give the whole substance of his house [if necessary—to meet his fine]. |
| 32 | But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks heart
and
understanding (moral principle and prudence); he who does it is destroying his own life. |
| 33 | Wounds and disgrace will he get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. |
| 34 | For jealousy makes [the wronged] man furious; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance [upon the detected one]. |
| 35 | He will not consider any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment]; neither will he be satisfied, though you offer him many gifts
and
bribes. |
Cross references:
-
Proverbs 6:6 : Job 12:7.
-
Proverbs 6:9 : Prov. 24:33, 34.
-
Proverbs 6:11 : Prov. 10:4; 13:4; 20:4.
-
Proverbs 6:17 : Ps. 120:2, 3.
-
Proverbs 6:20 : Eph. 6:1-3.
-
Proverbs 6:21 : Prov. 3:3; 7:3.
-
Proverbs 6:23 : Ps. 19:8; 119:105.
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