Proverbs 6:1-35

  • Beware of guaranteeing a loan (1-5)

  • “Go to the ant, you lazy one” (6-11)

  • A useless and wicked man (12-15)

  • Seven things Jehovah hates (16-19)

  • Guard against a bad woman (20-35)

6  My son, if you have put up security* for your neighbor,+If you have given your handshake* to a stranger,+  2  If you have been ensnared by your promise,Caught by the words of your mouth,+  3  Do this, my son, and free yourself,For you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor: Go and humble yourself and urgently plead with your neighbor.+  4  Do not allow your eyes to sleep,Nor your eyelids to slumber.  5  Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,Like a bird from the hand of the birdcatcher.  6  Go to the ant, you lazy one;+Observe its ways and become wise.  7  Although it has no commander, officer, or ruler,  8  It prepares its food in the summer,+And it gathers its food supplies in the harvest.  9  How long, you lazy one, will you lie there? When will you rise up from your sleep? 10  A little sleep, a little slumbering,A little folding of the hands to rest,+ 11  And your poverty will come like a bandit,And your want like an armed man.+ 12  A useless and wicked man walks about with crooked speech;+ 13  He winks with his eye,+ signals with his foot, and motions with his fingers. 14  With a perverted heart,He is always scheming evil+ and spreading contentions.+ 15  Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;In a moment he will be broken beyond healing.+ 16  There are six things that Jehovah hates;Yes, seven things that he* detests: 17  Haughty eyes,+ a lying tongue,+ and hands that shed innocent blood,+ 18  A heart plotting wicked schemes,+ and feet that run quickly to evil, 19  A false witness who lies with every breath,+And anyone sowing contentions among brothers.+ 20  Observe, my son, the commandment of your father,And do not forsake the instruction* of your mother.+ 21  Always bind them around your heart;Tie them about your neck. 22  When you walk about, it will lead you;When you lie down, it will stand guard over you;And when you awaken, it will speak to you.* 23  For the commandment is a lamp,+And the law is a light,+And the reproofs of discipline are the way to life.+ 24  They will guard you against the bad woman,+Against the seductive tongue of the immoral* woman.+ 25  Do not desire her beauty in your heart+Or allow her to captivate you with her alluring eyes, 26  For because of a prostitute, a man is reduced to a loaf of bread,+But the wife of another man preys on a precious life.* 27  Can a man rake fire to his chest and not burn his garments?+ 28  Or can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? 29  It is the same with anyone having relations with his neighbor’s wife;No one who touches her will go unpunished.+ 30  People do not despise a thiefIf he steals to satisfy himself* when he is hungry. 31  Yet, when found, he will repay sevenfold;He will give up all the valuables of his house.+ 32  Anyone committing adultery with a woman is lacking good sense;*The one who does so brings ruin on himself.*+ 33  He will get only wounds and dishonor,+And his disgrace will not be wiped away.+ 34  For jealousy makes a husband furious;He will show no compassion when he takes revenge.+ 35  He will accept no compensation;*He will not be appeased, no matter how large you make the gift.

Footnotes

That is, in a pledge.
Lit., “gone surety.”
Or “his soul.”
Or “law.”
Or “instruct you.”
Lit., “foreign.” See Pr 2:16.
Or “soul.”
Or “fill his soul.”
Lit., “in want of heart.”
Or “his soul.”
Or “ransom.”