Proverbs 6

Against Pledges

¹My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor,

²if you are snared by the sayings of your mouth,

³do this, then, my child, and save yourself,

⁴Do not give sleep to your eyes,

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand,

Against Sloth

⁶Go to the ant, lazy!

⁷It has no chief,

⁸In the summer, it prepares its food;

⁹How long will you lie down, lazy?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

¹¹like a robber shall your poverty come,[#Literally “one who walks,” that is, a vagabond]

Against Worthlessness

¹²A worthless man, an evil man,

¹³Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,

¹⁴perversion in his heart, he devises evil;

¹⁵Upon such a man, suddenly shall his calamity come;[#Literally “thus”]

What Yahweh Hates

¹⁶There are six things Yahweh hates,

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

¹⁸a devising heart, plans of deception,

¹⁹a false witness who breathes lies

Commandment and Instruction as Guardians

²⁰My child, keep the commandment of your father,

²¹Bind them on your heart continually;

²²When you walk, she will lead you,[#Literally “In your walking”; #That is, “commandment” and “instruction”]

²³For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,

²⁴in order to preserve you from an evil woman,[#Or “wife”]

²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart;

²⁶For the price of a woman, a prostitute, is the price of a loaf of bread,[#Or “whore”]

Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman

²⁷Can a man carry fire in his lap,

²⁸If a man walks upon the hot coals,

²⁹Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,

³⁰People do not despise a thief when he steals

³¹But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,

³²He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense,[#Literally “heart”]

³³A wound and dishonor he will find,

³⁴For jealousy is the fury of a husband,

³⁵He will not accept any compensation,[#Literally “the face of any compensation”]