Proverbs 6
World English Bible
6 My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor,
if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 you are trapped by the words of your mouth;
you are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself,
since you have come into the hand of your neighbor.
Go, humble yourself.
Press your plea with your neighbor.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard.
Consider her ways, and be wise;
7 which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
8 provides her bread in the summer,
and gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you sleep, sluggard?
When will you arise out of your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 so your poverty will come as a robber,
and your scarcity as an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness,
who devises evil continually,
who always sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16 There are six things which Yahweh hates;
yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 a false witness who utters lies,
and he who sows discord among brothers.
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them continually on your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, it will lead you.
When you sleep, it will watch over you.
When you awake, it will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp,
and the law is light.
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 to keep you from the immoral woman,
from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.
25 Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart,
neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26 For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread.
The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap,
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals,
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife.
Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
30 Men don’t despise a thief
if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry;
31 but if he is found, he shall restore seven times.
He shall give all the wealth of his house.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding.
He who does it destroys his own soul.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor.
His reproach will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband.
He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He won’t regard any ransom,
neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
Proverbs 6
Lexham English Bible
Against Pledges
6 My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself[a] to the stranger,
2 if you are snared by the sayings of your mouth,
if you are caught by the sayings of your mouth,
3 do this, then, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into the palm of your neighbor’s hand:[b]
Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes,
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand,
or like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Against Sloth
6 Go to the ant, lazy!
Consider its ways and be wise.
7 It has no chief,
officer, or ruler.
8 In the summer, it prepares its food;
in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance.
9 How long will you lie down, lazy?
When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands for rest—
11 like a robber[c] shall your poverty come,
and what you lack like an armed man.
Against Worthlessness
12 A worthless man, an evil man,
goes around with deceitful speech.[d]
13 Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,
pointing in his fingers,
14 perversion in his heart, he devises evil;
at all times he will send out discord.[e]
15 Upon such a man,[f] suddenly shall his calamity come;
in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.[g]
What Yahweh Hates
16 There are six things Yahweh hates,
and seven things are abominations of his soul:[h]
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a devising heart, plans of deception,
feet that hurry to run to evil,[i]
19 a false witness who breathes lies
and sends out discord[j] between brothers.
Commandment and Instruction as Guardians
20 My child, keep the commandment of your father,
and do not disregard the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually;
tie them upon your neck.
22 When you walk,[k] she[l] will lead you,
When you lie down,[m] she will watch over you,
and when you awake, she will converse with you.
23 For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,
and the way of life[n] is the reproof of discipline,
24 in order to preserve you from an evil woman,[o]
from the smoothness of the tongue of an adulteress.[p]
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart;
may she not capture you with her eyelashes.
26 For the price of a woman, a prostitute,[q] is the price of a loaf of bread,
but the woman belonging to a man[r] hunts precious life.
Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap,
and his clothes not burn?
28 If a man walks upon the hot coals,
will his feet not be burned?
29 Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,
any who touches her shall not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fill himself[s] when he is hungry.
31 But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,
every possession of his house he shall give.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense,[t]
he destroys himself[u] who does it.
33 A wound and dishonor he will find,
and his disgrace will not be wiped out.
34 For jealousy is the fury of a husband,
and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation,[v]
and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:1 Literally “palms of your hands”
- Proverbs 6:3 Literally “the palm of the hand of your neighbor”
- Proverbs 6:11 Literally “one who walks,” that is, a vagabond
- Proverbs 6:12 Literally “crookedness of mouth”
- Proverbs 6:14 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:15 Literally “thus”
- Proverbs 6:15 Or “repair”
- Proverbs 6:16 Or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:18 Hebrew “the evil”
- Proverbs 6:19 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your walking”
- Proverbs 6:22 That is, “commandment” and “instruction”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your lying down”
- Proverbs 6:23 Hebrew “lives”
- Proverbs 6:24 Or “wife”
- Proverbs 6:24 Literally “a foreign woman”
- Proverbs 6:26 Or “whore”
- Proverbs 6:26 Literally “the woman of a man”
- Proverbs 6:30 Or “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:32 Literally “heart”
- Proverbs 6:32 Or “his soul,” or “his life”
- Proverbs 6:35 Literally “the face of any compensation”
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