Proverbs 6
New American Standard Bible
Parental Counsel
6 My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
2 If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
3 Then do this, my son, and save yourself:
Since you have come into the [a]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.
4 Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the (D)ant, you [b](E)lazy one,
Observe its ways and be wise,
7 Which, having (F)no chief,
Officer, or ruler,
8 Prepares its food (G)in the summer
And gathers its provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, you [c]lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “(H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [d]rest,”
11 (I)Then your poverty will come in like a [e]drifter,
And your need like [f]an armed man.
12 A (J)worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a (K)perverse mouth,
13 Who (L)winks with his eyes, who [g]signals with his feet,
Who [h]points with his fingers;
14 Who, with (M)perversion in his heart, continually (N)devises evil,
Who [i](O)spreads strife.
15 Therefore (P)his disaster will come suddenly;
(Q)Instantly he will be broken and there will be (R)no healing.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination [j]to Him:
17 (S)Haughty eyes, a (T)lying tongue,
And hands that (U)shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises (V)wicked plans,
(W)Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A (X)false witness who declares lies,
And one who [k](Y)spreads strife among brothers.
20 (Z)My son, comply with the commandment of your father,
And do not ignore the [l]teaching of your mother;
21 (AA)Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you (AB)walk, [m]they will guide you;
When you sleep, [n]they will watch over you;
And when you awake, [o]they will talk to you.
23 For (AC)the commandment is a lamp and the [p]teaching is light;
And rebukes for discipline are the way of life
24 To (AD)keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 (AE)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her (AF)eyelids.
26 For (AG)the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread,
And [q]an adulteress (AH)hunts for a precious life.
27 Can anyone take fire in his lap
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a person walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who (AI)goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her (AJ)will not [r]go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
To (AK)satisfy [s]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (AL)repay seven times as much;
He must give up all the property of his house.
32 One who commits adultery with a woman is (AM)lacking [t]sense;
He who would (AN)destroy [u]himself commits it.
33 He will find wounds and disgrace,
And his shame will not be removed.
34 For (AO)jealousy [v]enrages a man,
And he will not have compassion on the (AP)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [w]accept any settlement,
Nor will he be [x]satisfied though you make it a large gift.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm
- Proverbs 6:6 Lit idle one
- Proverbs 6:9 Lit idle one
- Proverbs 6:10 Lit lie down
- Proverbs 6:11 Lit one who moves about
- Proverbs 6:11 Lit a man with a shield
- Proverbs 6:13 Lit scrapes
- Proverbs 6:13 Lit instructs with
- Proverbs 6:14 Lit sends out
- Proverbs 6:16 Lit of His soul
- Proverbs 6:19 Lit sends out
- Proverbs 6:20 Or law
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:23 Or law
- Proverbs 6:26 Lit a man’s wife
- Proverbs 6:29 Lit be innocent
- Proverbs 6:30 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit heart
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:34 Lit is the rage of
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit lift up the face of any
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit willing
Proverbs 6
New Living Translation
Lessons for Daily Life
6 My child,[a] if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said—
3 follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride;
go and beg to have your name erased.
4 Don’t put it off; do it now!
Don’t rest until you do.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
7 Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
8 they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.
9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?
When will you wake up?
10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
12 What are worthless and wicked people like?
They are constant liars,
13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,
a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil,
and they constantly stir up trouble.
15 But they will be destroyed suddenly,
broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
16 There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
20 My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
21 Keep their words always in your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
When you sleep, they will protect you.
When you wake up, they will advise you.
23 For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
24 It will keep you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
25 Don’t lust for her beauty.
Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,[b]
but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
27 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap
and not have his clothes catch on fire?
28 Can he walk on hot coals
and not blister his feet?
29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.
He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
