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.
Proverbs 6
English Standard Version
Practical Warnings
6 My son, if you have put up (A)security for your neighbor,
have (B)given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are (C)snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten,[a] and (D)plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 (E)Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,[b]
(F)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 (G)Go to (H)the ant, O (I)sluggard;
consider her ways, and (J)be wise.
7 (K)Without having any chief,
(L)officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread (M)in summer
and (N)gathers her food in harvest.
9 (O)How long will you lie there, (P)O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (Q)A little sleep, a little slumber,
(R)a little (S)folding of the hands to rest,
11 (T)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
12 (U)A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with (V)crooked speech,
13 (W)winks with his eyes, signals[c] with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with (X)perverted heart (Y)devises evil,
continually (Z)sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
(AA)in a moment he will be broken (AB)beyond healing.
16 There are (AC)six things that the Lord hates,
(AD)seven that are an abomination to him:
17 (AE)haughty eyes, (AF)a lying tongue,
and (AG)hands that shed innocent blood,
18 (AH)a heart that devises wicked plans,
(AI)feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 (AJ)a false witness who (AK)breathes out lies,
and one who (AL)sows discord among brothers.
Warnings Against Adultery
20 (AM)My son, keep your father's commandment,
(AN)and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 (AO)Bind them on your heart always;
(AP)tie them around your neck.
22 (AQ)When you walk, they[d] will lead you;
(AR)when you lie down, they will (AS)watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is (AT)a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the (AU)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,[e]
from the smooth tongue of (AV)the adulteress.[f]
25 (AW)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her (AX)eyelashes;
26 for (AY)the price of a prostitute is only (AZ)a loaf of bread,[g]
but a married woman[h] (BA)hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry (BB)fire next to his (BC)chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one (BD)walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
none who touches her (BE)will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to (BF)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but (BG)if he is caught, he will pay (BH)sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For (BI)jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when (BJ)he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:3 Or humble yourself
- Proverbs 6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter
- Proverbs 6:13 Hebrew scrapes
- Proverbs 6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse
- Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
- Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
- Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
- Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife
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.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
