Add parallel Print Page Options

Practical Warnings

My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Have struck your [a]hands in pledge for a stranger,
If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the [b]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.
Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the (D)ant, O (E)sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having (F)no chief,
Officer or ruler,
Prepares her food (G)in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [c]rest”—
11 (I)Your poverty will come in like [d]a vagabond
And your want like [e]an armed man.

12 A (J)vile person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a (K)perverse mouth,
13 Who (L)winks with his eyes, who [f]signals with his feet,
Who [g]points with his fingers;
14 Who with (M)perversity in his heart continually (N)devises evil,
Who [h](O)spreads contentions.
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 which Yahweh hates,
Even seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:
17 (S)Haughty eyes, a (T)lying tongue,
And hands that (U)shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises (V)wicked thoughts,
(W)Feet that hasten to run to evil,
19 A (X)false witness who breathes out lies,
And one who [j](Y)spreads strife among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

20 (Z)My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not abandon the [k]law of your mother;
21 (AA)Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you (AB)walk about, [l]they will lead you;
When you sleep, [m]they will keep watch over you;
And when you awake, [n]they will speak to you.
23 For (AC)the commandment is a lamp and the [o]law is light;
And reproofs 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)on account of [p]a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And [q]an adulteress (AH)hunts for the precious [r]life.
27 Can a man [s]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 (AI)goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her (AJ)will not [t]go unpunished.
30 [u]Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To (AK)fill [v]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (AL)repay sevenfold;
He must give all the [w]substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is (AM)lacking a heart of wisdom;
He who would (AN)destroy his soul does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For (AO)jealousy [x]enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the (AP)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [y]accept any ransom,
He will not be willing though you give many bribes.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:1 Lit palms
  2. Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm
  3. Proverbs 6:10 Lit lie down
  4. Proverbs 6:11 Lit one who walks
  5. Proverbs 6:11 Lit a man with a shield
  6. Proverbs 6:13 Lit scrapes
  7. Proverbs 6:13 Lit instructs
  8. Proverbs 6:14 Lit sends out
  9. Proverbs 6:16 Lit of His soul
  10. Proverbs 6:19 Lit sends out
  11. Proverbs 6:20 Or instruction
  12. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  13. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  14. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  15. Proverbs 6:23 Or instruction
  16. Proverbs 6:26 Or a woman who is a harlot
  17. Proverbs 6:26 Or a woman of another man
  18. Proverbs 6:26 Lit soul
  19. Proverbs 6:27 Lit snatch up
  20. Proverbs 6:29 Lit be innocent
  21. Proverbs 6:30 Or Do not men...?; lit They do not
  22. Proverbs 6:30 Lit his soul
  23. Proverbs 6:31 Or wealth
  24. Proverbs 6:34 Lit is the rage of
  25. Proverbs 6:35 Lit lift up the face of

My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor,
If thou hast stricken [a]thy hands for a stranger;
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,
Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,
Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor:
Go, [b]humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;
Give not sleep to thine eyes,
Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Deliver thyself as a [c]roe from the hand of the hunter,
And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard;
Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no [d]chief,
Overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou [e]sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [f]sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as a [g]robber,
And thy want as [h]an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;
13 That winketh with his eyes, that [i]speaketh with his feet,
That [j]maketh signs with his fingers;
14 In whose heart is perverseness,
Who deviseth evil continually,
Who [k]soweth discord.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;
On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
16 There are six things which Jehovah hateth;
Yea, seven which are an abomination [l]unto him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood;
18 A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,
Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that [m]uttereth lies,
And he that [n]soweth discord among brethren.

20 My son, keep the commandment of thy father,
And forsake not the [o]law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thy heart;
Tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;
When thou [p]sleepest, it shall watch over thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 For [q]the commandment is a lamp; and [r]the law is light;
And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 To keep thee from the evil woman,
From the flattery of the foreigner’s tongue.
25 Lust not after her beauty in thy heart;
Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread;
And [s]the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk upon hot coals,
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whosoever toucheth her shall not be [t]unpunished.
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal
To satisfy [u]himself when he is hungry:
31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;
He shall give all the substance of his house.
32 He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of [v]understanding:
He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.
33 Wounds and dishonor shall he get;
And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man;
And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom;
Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:1 Or, thy hand with a stranger
  2. Proverbs 6:3 Or, bestir
  3. Proverbs 6:5 Or, gazelle
  4. Proverbs 6:7 Or, judge
  5. Proverbs 6:9 Hebrew lie down.
  6. Proverbs 6:10 Hebrew lie down.
  7. Proverbs 6:11 Or, rover
  8. Proverbs 6:11 Hebrew a man with a shield.
  9. Proverbs 6:13 Or, shuffleth
  10. Proverbs 6:13 Or, teacheth with
  11. Proverbs 6:14 Hebrew letteth loose.
  12. Proverbs 6:16 Hebrew of his soul.
  13. Proverbs 6:19 Hebrew breatheth out.
  14. Proverbs 6:19 Hebrew letteth loose.
  15. Proverbs 6:20 Or, teaching
  16. Proverbs 6:22 Hebrew liest down.
  17. Proverbs 6:23 Or, their commandment
  18. Proverbs 6:23 Or, their teaching
  19. Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man’s wife.
  20. Proverbs 6:29 Hebrew held innocent.
  21. Proverbs 6:30 Or, his appetite
  22. Proverbs 6:32 Hebrew heart.