Parental Counsel
1My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have [a]given a pledge for a stranger,
2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the [b]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no chief,
Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [c]rest”—
11 Your poverty will come in like a [d]vagabond
And your need like [e]an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 Who winks with his eyes, who [f]signals with his feet,
Who [g]points with his fingers;
14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
Who [h]spreads strife.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly;
Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.
16 There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who utters lies,
And one who [j]spreads strife among brothers.
20 My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the [k]teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, [l]they will guide you;
When you sleep, [m]they will watch over you;
And when you awake, [n]they will talk to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the [o]teaching is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the [p]adulteress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.
26 For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And [q]an adulteress hunts for the precious life.
27 Can a man [r]take fire in his bosom
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not [s]go unpunished.
30 [t]Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy [u]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold;
He must give all the [v]substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking [w]sense;
He who would destroy [x]himself does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For jealousy [y]enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not [z]accept any ransom,
Nor will he be [aa]satisfied though you give many [ab]gifts.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:1 Lit clapped your palms
- Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm
- Proverbs 6:10 Lit lie down
- Proverbs 6:11 Lit one who walks
- Proverbs 6:11 Lit a man with a shield
- Proverbs 6:13 Lit scrapes
- Proverbs 6:13 Lit instructs with
- Proverbs 6:14 Lit sends out
- Proverbs 6:16 Lit of His soul
- Proverbs 6:19 Lit sends out
- Proverbs 6:20 Or law
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:23 Or law
- Proverbs 6:24 Lit foreign woman
- Proverbs 6:26 Lit a man’s wife
- Proverbs 6:27 Lit snatch up
- Proverbs 6:29 Lit be innocent
- Proverbs 6:30 Lit They do not; or Do not men...?
- Proverbs 6:30 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:31 Or wealth
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit heart
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:34 Lit is the rage of
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit lift up the face of any
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit willing
- Proverbs 6:35 Or bribes