Proverbs 6:1-35 GNT

[1] My child, have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts? [2] Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises? [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. [4] Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest. [5] Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter. [6] Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. [7] They have no leader, chief, or ruler, [8] but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter. [9] How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? [10] "I'll just take a short nap," he says; "I'll fold my hands and rest a while." [11] But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber. [12] Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies. [13] They wink and make gestures to deceive you, [14] all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere. [15] Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded. [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. [20] Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you. [21] Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart. [22] Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day. [23] Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live. [24] It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives. [25] Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes. [26] A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has. [27] Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? [28] Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet? [29] It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer. [30] People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry; [31] yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more-he must give up everything he has. [32] But a man who commits adultery doesn't have any sense. He is just destroying himself. [33] He will be dishonored and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced. [34] A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits. [35] He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.