6:1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, Have given a pledge for a stranger, |
6:2 {If} you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth, |
6:3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor. |
6:4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids; |
6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from {the hunter's} hand And like a bird from the hand of the fowler. |
6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, |
6:7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, |
6:8 Prepares her food in the summer {And} gathers her provision in the harvest. |
6:9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? |
6:10 "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest--" |
6:11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man. |
6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, |
6:13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; |
6:14 Who {with} perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. |
6:15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. |
6:16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: |
6:17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, |
6:18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, |
6:19 A false witness {who} utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers. |
6:20 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother; |
6:21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. |
6:22 When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you. |
6:23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life |
6:24 To keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the adulteress. |
6:25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids. |
6:26 For on account of a harlot {one is reduced} to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life. |
6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? |
6:28 Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched? |
6:29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. |
6:30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals To satisfy himself when he is hungry; |
6:31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house. |
6:32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. |
6:33 Wounds and disgrace he will find, And his reproach will not be blotted out. |
6:34 For jealousy enrages a man, And he will not spare in the day of vengeance. |
6:35 He will not accept any ransom, Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts. |