6:1   My child, have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts?

6:2   Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises?

6:3   Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you.

6:4   Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest.

6:5   Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.

6:6   Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.

6:7   They have no leader, chief, or ruler,

6:8   but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter.

6:9   How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up?

6:10   "I'll just take a short nap," he says; "I'll fold my hands and rest a while."

6:11   But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

6:12   Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies.

6:13   They wink and make gestures to deceive you,

6:14   all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere.

6:15   Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.

6:16   There are seven things that the LORD hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, a witness who tells one lie after another, and someone who stirs up trouble among friends.

6:17   (SEE 6:16)

6:18   (SEE 6:16)

6:19   (SEE 6:16)

6:20   Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you.

6:21   Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart.

6:22   Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day.

6:23   Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live.

6:24   It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives.

6:25   Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes.

6:26   A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.

6:27   Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes?

6:28   Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet?

6:29   It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer.

6:30   People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;

6:31   yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more---he must give up everything he has.

6:32   But a man who commits adultery doesn't have any sense. He is just destroying himself.

6:33   He will be dishonored and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced.

6:34   A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits.

6:35   He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.