Chapter 6
1 My son , if you have become collateral for your neighbour , if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger ,
2 you are trapped by the words of your mouth ; you are ensnared with the words of your mouth .
3 Do this now , my son , and deliver yourself , since you have come into the hand of your neighbour . Go , humble yourself . Press your plea with your neighbour .
4 Give no sleep to your eyes , nor slumber to your eyelids .
5 Free yourself , like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler .
6 Go to the ant , you sluggard . Consider her ways , and be wise ;
7 which having no chief , overseer , or ruler ,
8 provides her bread in the summer , and gathers her food in the harvest .
9 How long will you sleep , sluggard ? When will you arise out of your sleep ?
10 A little sleep , a little slumber , a little folding of the hands to sleep —
11 so your poverty will come as a robber , and your scarcity as an armed man.
12 A worthless person , a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth ,
13 who winks with his eyes , who signals with his feet , who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually , who always sows discord .
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly . He will be broken suddenly , and that without remedy .
16 There are six things which the LORD hates ; yes, seven which are an abomination to him :
17 arrogant eyes , a lying tongue , hands that shed innocent blood ,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes , feet that are swift in running to mischief ,
19 a false witness who utters lies , and he who sows discord amongst brothers.
20 My son , keep your father ’s commandment , and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching .
21 Bind them continually on your heart . Tie them around your neck .
22 When you walk , it will lead you . When you sleep , it will watch over you . When you awake , it will talk with you .
23 For the commandment is a lamp , and the law is light . Reproofs of instruction are the way of life ,
24 to keep you from the immoral woman , from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue .
25 Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart , neither let her captivate you with her eyelids .
26 For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread . The adulteress hunts for your precious life .
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap , and his clothes not be burnt ?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals , and his feet not be scorched ?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbour ’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished .
30 Men don’t despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry ,
31 but if he is found , he shall restore seven times . He shall give all the wealth of his house .
32 He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding . He who does it destroys his own soul .
33 He will get wounds and dishonour . His reproach will not be wiped away .
34 For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance .
35 He won’t regard any ransom , neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts .