Proverbs 6

¹ My son! if thou hast been surety for thy friend, Hast stricken for a stranger thy hand,

² Hast been snared with sayings of thy mouth, Hast been captured with sayings of thy mouth,

³ Do this now, my son, and be delivered, For thou hast come into the hand of thy friend. Go, trample on thyself, and strengthen thy friend,

⁴ Give not sleep to thine eyes, And slumber to thine eyelids,

⁵ Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.

⁶ Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

⁷ Which hath not captain, overseer, and ruler,

⁸ She doth prepare in summer her bread, She hath gathered in harvest her food.

⁹ Till when, O slothful one, dost thou lie? When dost thou arise from thy sleep?

¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,

¹¹ And thy poverty hath come as a traveller, And thy want as an armed man.

¹² A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,

¹³ Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,

¹⁴ Frowardness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, Contentions he sendeth forth.

¹⁵ Therefore suddenly cometh his calamity, Instantly he is broken — and no healing.

¹⁶ These six hath Jehovah hated, Yea, seven [are] abominations to His soul.

¹⁷ Eyes high — tongues false — And hands shedding innocent blood —

¹⁸ A heart devising thoughts of vanity — Feet hasting to run to evil —

¹⁹ A false witness [who] doth breathe out lies — And one sending forth contentions between brethren.

²⁰ Keep, my son, the command of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother.

²¹ Bind them on thy heart continually, Tie them on thy neck.

²² In thy going up and down, it leadeth thee, In thy lying down, it watcheth over thee, And thou hast awaked — it talketh [with] thee.

²³ For a lamp [is] the command, And the law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,

²⁴ To preserve thee from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

²⁵ Desire not her beauty in thy heart, And let her not take thee with her eyelids.

²⁶ For a harlot consumeth unto a cake of bread, And an adulteress the precious soul hunteth.

²⁷ Doth a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burnt?

²⁸ Doth a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?

²⁹ So [is] he who hath gone in unto the wife of his neighbour, None who doth touch her is innocent.

³⁰ They do not despise the thief, When he stealeth to fill his soul when he is hungry,

³¹ And being found he repayeth sevenfold, All the substance of his house he giveth.

³² He who committeth adultery [with] a woman lacketh heart, He is destroying his soul who doth it.

³³ A stroke and shame he doth find, And his reproach is not wiped away,

³⁴ For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he doth not spare in a day of vengeance.

³⁵ He accepteth not the appearance of any atonement, Yea, he doth not consent, Though thou dost multiply bribes!