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 Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Practical Admonitions
6 My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself to another,[a](A)
2 you are snared by the utterance of your lips,[b]
caught by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
go, hurry,[c] and plead with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;(B)
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[d]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.(C)
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.(D)
7 Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(E)
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?(F)
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.(G)
12 A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,(H)
13 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,(I)
14 with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;(J)
15 on such a one calamity will descend suddenly,
in a moment, damage beyond repair.(K)
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,(L)
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,(M)
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.(N)
20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(O)
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.(P)
22 When you walk, they[e] will lead you;
when you lie down, they[f] will watch over you;
and when you awake, they[g] will talk with you.(Q)
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,(R)
24 to preserve you from the wife of another,[h]
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[i](S)
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes,(T)
26 for a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,[j]
but the wife of another stalks a man’s precious life.(U)
27 Can fire be carried in the bosom
without burning one’s clothes?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
without scorching the feet?
29 So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.(V)
30 Thieves are not despised who steal only
to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
31 Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold;
they will forfeit all the goods of their house.(W)
32 But he who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.(X)
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no restraint when he takes revenge.(Y)
35 He will accept no compensation
and will refuse a bribe no matter how great.
Proverbs 6
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger.
2 Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words.
3 Do therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend:
4 Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.
5 Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:
7 Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,
8 Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou rise out of thy sleep?
10 Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:
11 And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.
12 A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth,
13 He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger.
14 With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord.
15 To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.
16 Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief,
19 A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.
20 My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
21 Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.
22 When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee; and when thou awakest, talk with them.
23 Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger.
25 Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:
26 For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.
27 Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?
28 Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her.
30 The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul:
31 And if he be taken he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house.
32 But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul:
33 He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out:
34 Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge,
35 Nor will he yield to any man's prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts.
Proverbs 6
The Message
Like a Deer from the Hunter
6 1-5 Dear friend, if you’ve gone into hock with your neighbor
or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,
If you’ve impulsively promised the shirt off your back
and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,
Friend, don’t waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess.
You’re in that man’s clutches!
Go, put on a long face; act desperate.
Don’t procrastinate—
there’s no time to lose.
Run like a deer from the hunter,
fly like a bird from the trapper!
A Lesson from the Ant
6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
poverty your permanent houseguest!
Always Cooking Up Something Nasty
12-15 Swindlers and scoundrels
talk out of both sides of their mouths.
They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet,
they cross their fingers behind their backs.
Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty,
always stirring up trouble.
Catastrophe is just around the corner for them,
a total wreck, their lives ruined beyond repair.
Seven Things God Hates
16-19 Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.
Warning on Adultery
20-23 Good friend, follow your father’s good advice;
don’t wander off from your mother’s teachings.
Wrap yourself in them from head to foot;
wear them like a scarf around your neck.
Wherever you walk, they’ll guide you;
whenever you rest, they’ll guard you;
when you wake up, they’ll tell you what’s next.
For sound advice is a beacon,
good teaching is a light,
moral discipline is a life path.
24-35 They’ll protect you from promiscuous women,
from the seductive talk of some temptress.
Don’t lustfully fantasize on her beauty,
nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes.
You can buy an hour with a prostitute for a loaf of bread,
but a promiscuous woman may well eat you alive.
Can you build a fire in your lap
and not burn your pants?
Can you walk barefoot on hot coals
and not get blisters?
It’s the same when you have sex with your neighbor’s wife:
Touch her and you’ll pay for it. No excuses.
Hunger is no excuse
for a thief to steal;
When he’s caught he has to pay it back,
even if he has to put his whole house in hock.
Adultery is a brainless act,
soul-destroying, self-destructive;
Expect a bloody nose, a black eye,
and a reputation ruined for good.
For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated husband;
wild for revenge, he won’t make allowances.
Nothing you say or pay will make it all right;
neither bribes nor reason will satisfy him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson