Proverbs 6

English NASU 1989 - New American Standard Update - Only for Website

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1My son, if you have become surety to your neighbor, given your hand in pledge to another,

2You have been snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth;

3So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's power: Go, hurry, stir up your neighbor!

4Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids;

5Free yourself as a gazelle from the snare, or as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6Go to the ant, O sluggard, study her ways and learn wisdom;

7For though she has no chief, no commander or ruler,

8She procures her food in the summer, stores up her provisions in the harvest.

9How long, O sluggard, will you rest? when will you rise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest--

11Then will poverty come upon you like a highway man, and want like an armed man.

12A scoundrel, a villain, is he who deals in crooked talk.

13He winks his eyes, shuffles his feet, makes signs with his fingers;

14He has perversity in his heart, is always plotting evil, sows discord.

15Therefore suddenly ruin comes upon him; in an instant he is crushed beyond cure.

16There are six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him;

17Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;

18A heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

19The false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

20Observe, my son, your father's bidding, and reject not your mother's teaching;

21Keep them fastened over your heart always, put them around your neck;

22When you lie down she will watch over you, and when you wake, she will share your concerns; wherever you turn, she will guide you.

23For the bidding is a lamp, and the teaching a light, and a way to life are the reproofs of discipline;

24To keep you from your neighbor's wife, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25Lust not in your heart after her beauty, let her not captivate you with her glance!

26For the price of a loose woman may be scarcely a loaf of bread, But if she is married, she is a trap for your precious life.

27Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his garments not burned?

28Or can a man walk on live coals, and his feet not be scorched?

29So with him who goes in to his neighbor's wife-- none who touches her shall go unpunished.

30Men despise not the thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry;

31Yet if he be caught he must pay back sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he may yield up.

32But he who commits adultery is a fool; he who would destroy himself does it.

33A degrading beating will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away;

34For vindictive is the husband's wrath, he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;

35He will not consider any restitution, nor be satisfied with the greatest gifts.

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