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