Proverbs 6

¹My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor,

If thou hast stricken thy hands for a stranger;

²Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,

Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

³Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,

Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor:

Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;

⁴Give not sleep to thine eyes,

Nor slumber to thine eyelids;

⁵Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter,

And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, thou sluggard;

Consider her ways, and be wise:

⁷Which having no chief,

Overseer, or ruler,

⁸Provideth her bread in the summer,

And gathereth her food in the harvest.

⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

¹⁰Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

¹¹So shall thy poverty come as a robber,

And thy want as an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a man of iniquity,

Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

¹³That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet,

That maketh signs with his fingers;

¹⁴In whose heart is perverseness,

Who deviseth evil continually,

Who soweth discord.

¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

¹⁶There are six things which Jehovah hateth;

Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:

¹⁷Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood;

¹⁸A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,

Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹A false witness that uttereth lies,

And he that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰My son, keep the commandment of thy father,

And forsake not the law of thy mother:

²¹Bind them continually upon thy heart;

Tie them about thy neck.

²²When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;

When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee;

And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

²³For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light;

And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

²⁴To keep thee from the evil woman,

From the flattery of the foreigner’s tongue.

²⁵Lust not after her beauty in thy heart;

Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

²⁶For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread;

And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.

²⁷Can a man take fire in his bosom,

And his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can one walk upon hot coals,

And his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise a thief, if he steal

To satisfy himself when he is hungry:

³¹But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;

He shall give all the substance of his house.

³²He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding:

He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.

³³Wounds and dishonor shall he get;

And his reproach shall not be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy is the rage of a man;

And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not regard any ransom;

Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.