Proverbs 6
- My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
- You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
- So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.
- Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
- Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
- Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
- Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
- Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
- How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
- A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep––
- So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
- A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
- He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;
- Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
- Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
- These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
- A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
- A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
- A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
- My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
- Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
- When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
- For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
- To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
- Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
- For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
- Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
- Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
- So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
- People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
- Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
- Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
- Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.
- For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
- He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.