Proverbs 6
Names of God Bible
Avoid Disaster
6 My son,
if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor
or pledge yourself for a stranger with a handshake,
2 you are trapped by the words of your own mouth,
caught by your own promise.
3 Do the following things, my son, so that you may free yourself,
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Humble yourself,
and pester your neighbor.
4 Don’t let your eyes rest
or your eyelids close.
5 Free yourself like a gazelle from the hand of a hunter
and like a bird from the hand of a hunter.
6 Consider the ant, you lazy bum.
Watch its ways, and become wise.
7 Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler,
8 in summertime it stores its food supply.
At harvest time it gathers its food.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy bum?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 “Just a little sleep,
just a little slumber,
just a little nap.”
11 Then your poverty will come to you like a drifter,
and your need will come to you like a bandit.
12 A good-for-nothing scoundrel is a person who has a dishonest mouth.
13 He winks his eye,
makes a signal with his foot,
and points with his fingers.
14 He devises evil all the time with a twisted mind.
He spreads conflict.
15 That is why disaster will come on him suddenly.
In a moment he will be crushed beyond recovery.
16 There are six things that Yahweh hates,
even seven that are disgusting to him:
17 arrogant eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind devising wicked plans,
feet that are quick to do wrong,
19 a dishonest witness spitting out lies,
and a person who spreads conflict among relatives.
More Advice about Avoiding Adultery
20 My son,
obey the command of your father,
and do not disregard the teachings of your mother.
21 Fasten them on your heart forever.
Hang them around your neck.
22 When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will watch over you.
When you wake up, they will talk to you
23 because the command is a lamp,
the teachings are a light,
and the warnings from discipline are the path of life
24 to keep you from an evil woman
and from the smooth talk of a loose woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart.
Do not let her catch you with her eyes.
26 A prostitute’s price is only a loaf of bread,
but a married woman hunts for your life itself.
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap
without burning his clothes?
28 Can anyone walk on red-hot coals
without burning his feet?
29 So it is with a man who has sex with his neighbor’s wife.
None who touch her will escape punishment.
30 People do not despise a thief who is hungry
when he steals to satisfy his appetite,
31 but when he is caught,
he has to repay it seven times.
He must give up all the possessions in his house.
32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman has no sense.
Whoever does this destroys himself.
33 An adulterous man will find disease[a] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be blotted out,
34 because jealousy arouses a husband’s fury.
The husband will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 No amount of money will change his mind.
The largest bribe will not satisfy him.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:33 Or “wounds.”
Proverbs 6
King James Version
6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.