Proverbs Chapter 6

¹ Son, if you sign for your neighbor

            or give a pledge for a stranger,

      ² if you get snared by a promise you’ve made

            or caught by what you’ve said,

      ³ do this to deliver yourself:

            since you’re at his disposal,

            humble yourself and plead with him

                  to take away your obligation.

      ⁴ Don’t sleep or slumber;

            ⁵ deliver yourself like a gazelle from a hunter,

            like a bird from a fowler.                                           

Prov 6:1-5

⁶ Go observe ants, lazy guy;

      watch what they do and wise up.

⁷ Though they don’t have a chief, an officer, or ruler,

         ⁸they prepare their food in the summer;

      at harvest time they gather provisions for winter.

⁹ How long will you lie around?

      When will you get up from napping?

¹⁰ “A little sleep, a little slumber,

            a little folding of the hands to rest”—

         ¹¹your poverty will come on you like a bandit;

            your need will attack you like an armed man.           

Prov 6:6-11

¹² A worthless, wicked man is one

      that goes around lying,

      ¹³ that winks with his eye,

            signals with his feet,

            gestures with his fingers,

      ¹⁴ that plots in his mind

            and constantly stirs up conflict.

      ¹⁵ Tragedy will come crashing down on him;

            all at once he’ll be crushed beyond recovery.

Prov 6:11-15

¹⁶ Six things the LORD despises;

      no, make that seven that disgust him:

            ¹⁷ arrogant eyes,

            lying tongues,

            blood-shedding hands,

            ¹⁸ plotting hearts,

            feet in a hurry to do harm,

            ¹⁹ witnesses who perjure themselves

            and people that stir up conflict between friends.       

Prov 6:16-19

²⁰ Son, keep your father’s commands;

            don’t leave your mother’s teachings.

         ²¹Bind them next to your heart;

            hang them around your neck.

         ²²They’ll guide you when you walk,       

            watch over you while you sleep,

            and advise you when you wake up.

         ²³A commandment is a lamp;

            teaching is a light;

            corrections that discipline lead to life.                      

Prov 6:20-23

²⁴ They keep your eyes off an immoral woman,

            a loose woman with smooth talk.

         ²⁵Don’t desire her beauty

            or let her catch your attention with her eyes.

         ²⁶A prostitute leaves a man with little to eat;

            an immoral woman stalks his very life.

         ²⁷Can a man carry fire in his arms

            and not singe his clothes?

         ²⁸Can he walk on hot coals

            and not burn his feet?

         ²⁹Can a man go to his neighbor’s wife

            and not suffer for it?

Prov 6:24-29

³⁰ People don’t despise a thief

            that steals because he’s hungry;

         ³¹but when he’s caught, he still needs to repay it seven times over

            even if he has to sell everything in his house to make it right.

³² A man that commits adultery lacks good judgment;

            he’s looking to destroy himself.

         ³³He’ll find wounds and disgrace

            and shame he can’t erase.

         ³⁴Jealousy makes a husband furious;

                  he won’t restrain his revenge.

                  ³⁵He won’t accept ransom

                  or be content with your gifts.

Prov 6:30-35