Proverbs 6
6
Lessons for Daily Life
1My child,#6:1 Hebrew My son. if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said—
3follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride;
go and beg to have your name erased.
4Don’t put it off; do it now!
Don’t rest until you do.
5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.
6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
7Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
8they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.
9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?
When will you wake up?
10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
12What are worthless and wicked people like?
They are constant liars,
13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,
a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
14Their perverted hearts plot evil,
and they constantly stir up trouble.
15But they will be destroyed suddenly,
broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
16There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
17haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
18a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
19a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
20My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
21Keep their words always in your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
When you sleep, they will protect you.
When you wake up, they will advise you.
23For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
24It will keep you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
25Don’t lust for her beauty.
Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,#6:26 Hebrew to a loaf of bread.
but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap
and not have his clothes catch on fire?
28Can he walk on hot coals
and not blister his feet?
29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.
He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
30Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
33He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
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Proverbs 6: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Proverbs 6
6
1My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor,
if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,
2you are trapped by the words of your mouth;
you are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
3Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself,
since you have come into the hand of your neighbor.
Go, humble yourself.
Press your plea with your neighbor.
4Give no sleep to your eyes,
nor slumber to your eyelids.
5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6Go to the ant, you sluggard.
Consider her ways, and be wise;
7which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
8provides her bread in the summer,
and gathers her food in the harvest.
9How long will you sleep, sluggard?
When will you arise out of your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep—
11so your poverty will come as a robber,
and your scarcity as an armed man.
12A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
who motions with his fingers,
14in whose heart is perverseness,
who devises evil continually,
who always sows discord.
15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16There are six things which Yahweh hates;
yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
17arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19a false witness who utters lies,
and he who sows discord among brothers.
20My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.
21Bind them continually on your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22When you walk, it will lead you.
When you sleep, it will watch over you.
When you awake, it will talk with you.
23For the commandment is a lamp,
and the law is light.
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24to keep you from the immoral woman,
from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.
25Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart,
neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread.
The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
27Can a man scoop fire into his lap,
and his clothes not be burned?
28Or can one walk on hot coals,
and his feet not be scorched?
29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife.
Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
30Men don’t despise a thief
if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry,
31but if he is found, he shall restore seven times.
He shall give all the wealth of his house.
32He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding.
He who does it destroys his own soul.
33He will get wounds and dishonor.
His reproach will not be wiped away.
34For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband.
He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
35He won’t regard any ransom,
neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
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