Proverbs 6

1My son, if you have promised to pay someone else's debt, if you shook hands to guarantee a stranger's loan,

2You have trapped yourself with your own words; you are caught by what you said.

3So do this now, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your case with your neighbor.

4Do not let your eyes sleep, and do not let your eyelids grow heavy.

5Free yourself, like a deer from a hunter's hand, like a bird from a trapper's hand.

6Go watch the ant, you lazy person. Consider its ways and become wise.

7The ant has no commander, no overseer, no ruler,

8Yet it stores up its food in the summer and gathers its supplies at harvest.

9How long will you lie there, you lazy person? When will you get up from your sleep?

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

11And poverty will come on you like a robber, and need like an armed man.

12A worthless and wicked person goes around saying dishonest things,

13Winking with his eyes, signaling with his feet, pointing with his fingers,

14With twisted plans in his heart, always scheming evil, always stirring up conflict.

15So disaster will strike him suddenly; he will be broken instantly, beyond healing.

16There are six things the LORD hates, seven things that are disgusting to the LORD:

17Proud eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people,

18A heart that plans wicked schemes, feet that run quickly to do evil,

19A false witness who lies, and someone who stirs up conflict among family members.

20My son, keep your father's command, and do not abandon your mother's teaching.

21Tie them on your heart always; fasten them around your neck.

22When you walk, they will guide you. When you sleep, they will watch over you. When you wake up, they will speak with you.

23Because the command is a lamp, and the teaching is a light, and correction from instruction is the way to life,

24To keep you from an evil woman, from the smooth talk of a woman who is unfaithful.

25Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her eyes capture you.

26Because a prostitute can be had for the price of a loaf of bread, but another man's wife hunts for your very life.

27Can a man carry fire against his chest without burning his clothes?

28Can someone walk on hot coals without burning his feet?

29So it is with the man who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30People do not look down on a thief who steals food because he is starving,

31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times as much; he must give up everything he owns.

32But a man who commits adultery with a woman has no sense at all. Whoever does it destroys himself.

33He will be wounded and disgraced, and his shame will never be erased.

34Because jealousy makes a husband furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

35He will not accept any payment; he will refuse to be satisfied no matter how large the gift.