6:1  My son, if you become surety for your friend,
If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

6:2  You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.

6:3  So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.

6:4  Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.

6:5  Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6:6  Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,

6:7  Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,

6:8  Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.

6:9  How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?

6:10  A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—

6:11  So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

6:12  A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;

6:13  He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;

6:14  Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.

6:15  Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

6:16  These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

6:17  A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,

6:18  A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,

6:19  A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

6:20  My son, keep your father’s command,
And do not forsake the law of your mother.

6:21  Bind them continually upon your heart;
Tie them around your neck.

6:22  When you roam, they will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep you;
And when you awake, they will speak with you.

6:23  For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light;
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

6:24  To keep you from the evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

6:25  Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

6:26  For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

6:27  Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?

6:28  Can one walk on hot coals,
And his feet not be seared?

6:29  So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

6:30  People do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

6:31  Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold;
He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

6:32  Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul.

6:33  Wounds and dishonor he will get,
And his reproach will not be wiped away.

6:34  For jealousy is a husband’s fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

6:35  He will accept no recompense,
Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.