Proverbs 6

If You Have Pledged Yourself for Another

1My child,
if you have become surety for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands
in pledge for a stranger, 2if you have been trapped
by the words of your mouth,
caught by the words of your mouth, 3then do this, my child,
and free yourself,
for you have come into the hand
of your neighbor:

Go, humble yourself
and press your neighbor urgently. 4Give no sleep to your eyes
and no slumber to your eyelids. 5Free yourself like a gazelle
from the hunter’s hand,
and like a bird
from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the Ant

6Go to the ant, you lazy one;
observe its ways
and become wise. 7It has no commander,
officer, or ruler, 8yet it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its provisions
at harvest. 9How long will you lie there,
you lazy one?
When will you rise
from your sleep? 10A little sleep,
a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands
to rest— 11and your poverty will come
like a robber,
and your need
like an armed warrior.

A Worthless Person

12A worthless person,
a person of iniquity,
goes about with crooked speech, 13winking with the eyes,
scraping with the feet,
pointing with the fingers, 14with perversity in the heart,
continually devising evil,
sowing conflict. 15Therefore disaster
will come suddenly;
in an instant such a person
will be broken beyond healing.

Seven Things the LORD Hates

16Six things the LORD hates,
and seven are an abomination: 17arrogant eyes,
a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood; 18a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run toward evil; 19a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows conflict
among brothers and sisters.

Keep the Commandment

20My child,
keep your father’s commandment,
and do not abandon
your mother’s instruction. 21Bind them continually on your heart;
tie them around your neck. 22When you walk,
they will lead you;
when you lie down,
they will watch over you;
and when you wake,
they will speak with you. 23For the commandment is a lamp,
and the instruction is light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way of life,

Do Not Desire Another's Spouse

24to guard you from an evil woman,
from the smooth tongue
of a foreign woman. 25Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you
with her eyelashes. 26For because of a prostitute
one may be reduced to a loaf of bread,
but another person’s wife
hunts a precious life. 27Can someone carry fire in their lap
without their clothes being burned? 28Or can someone walk on hot coals
without their feet being scorched? 29So it is with the one
who goes in to a neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her
will go unpunished.

30People do not despise a thief
if he steals
to satisfy himself
when he is hungry. 31Yet if he is caught,
he must repay sevenfold;
he may give all the wealth
of his house. 32The one who commits adultery
lacks sense;
the one who does it
destroys their own life. 33Wounds and dishonor will be found,
and the disgrace
will not be wiped away. 34For jealousy enrages a husband,
and he will not spare
on the day of vengeance. 35He will accept no compensation
and will not be willing,
though you multiply the gift.