Proverbs 6

₁My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger,

₂if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

₃then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

₄Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

₅save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

₆Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

₇Without having any chief,

officer, or ruler,

₈she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest.

₉How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

₁₀A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

₁₁and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

₁₂A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech,

₁₃winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger,

₁₄with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord;

₁₅therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

₁₆There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

₁₇haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

₁₈a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

₁₉a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

₂₀My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

₂₁Bind them on your heart always;

tie them around your neck.

₂₂When you walk, they will lead you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

₂₃For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

₂₄to preserve you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

₂₅Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;

₂₆for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,

but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

₂₇Can a man carry fire next to his chest

and his clothes not be burned?

₂₈Or can one walk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched?

₂₉So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her will go unpunished.

₃₀People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

₃₁but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house.

₃₂He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself.

₃₃He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

₃₄For jealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

₃₅He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.