Proverbs 6
6
1My 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.
5Free 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;
7which 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,
13who 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:
17arrogant 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.
25Don’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.
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Proverbs 6
6
Practical Warnings
1My son, if you have put up #See Job 17:3security for your neighbor,
have #See Job 17:3given your pledge for a stranger,
2if you are #[ch. 5:22]snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten,#6:3 Or humble yourself and #[Luke 11:8; 18:5]plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 # ch. 20:13; Ps. 132:4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,#6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter
# See Ps. 91:3 like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 # [Job 12:7] Go to #ch. 30:25 the ant, O #ch. 10:26 sluggard;
consider her ways, and #ch. 23:19; 27:11be wise.
7 # [ch. 30:27] Without having any chief,
#
Ex. 5:6, 15 officer, or ruler,
8she prepares her bread #[ch. 10:5] in summer
and #[ch. 10:5]gathers her food in harvest.
9 # [Jonah 1:6] How long will you lie there, #[See ver. 6 above]O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 # ch. 24:33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
#
Eccles. 4:5
a little #ch. 24:33 folding of the hands to rest,
11 # ch. 24:34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
12 # ch. 16:27 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with #ch. 4:24crooked speech,
13 # ch. 10:10; Ps. 35:19 winks with his eyes, signals#6:13 Hebrew scrapes with his feet,
points with his finger,
14with #See ch. 2:12 perverted heart #[Mic. 2:1]; See ch. 3:29 devises evil,
continually #[ch. 16:28]sowing discord;
15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
#
Isa. 30:13, 14; Jer. 19:11 in a moment he will be broken #ch. 29:1; 2 Chr. 36:16beyond healing.
16There are #See Job 5:19six things that the Lord hates,
# See Job 5:19 seven that are an abomination to him:
17 # [ch. 8:13; 16:5; 21:4]; See Ps. 101:5 haughty eyes, #ch. 12:22; 17:7; Ps. 31:18; 120:2 a lying tongue,
and #Deut. 19:10; Isa. 1:15; 59:3, 7hands that shed innocent blood,
18 #
Gen. 6:5 a heart that devises wicked plans,
# See ch. 1:16 feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 # See Ps. 27:12 a false witness who #ch. 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9 breathes out lies,
and one who #[See ver. 14 above]sows discord among brothers.
Warnings Against Adultery
20 # See ch. 1:8 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
# See ch. 1:8 and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 # See ch. 3:3 Bind them on your heart always;
# [Job 31:36] tie them around your neck.
22 # See ch. 3:23, 24 When you walk, they#6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse will lead you;
# See ch. 3:23, 24 when you lie down, they will #ch. 2:11watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23For the commandment is #Ps. 119:105; [Ps. 13:3] a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the #[ch. 10:17]reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24to preserve you from the evil woman,#6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
from the smooth tongue of #See ch. 2:16the adulteress.#6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
25 # [Matt. 5:28] Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her #[2 Kgs. 9:30]eyelashes;
26for #[ch. 29:3] the price of a prostitute is only #ch. 28:21; 1 Sam. 2:36 a loaf of bread,#6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
but a married woman#6:26 Hebrew a man’s wife #Ezek. 13:18hunts down a precious life.
27Can a man carry #Job 31:12 fire next to his #Ps. 79:12chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28Or can one #Isa. 43:2walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her #ch. 16:5will go unpunished.
30People do not despise a thief if he steals
to #Job 38:39satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31but #[Ex. 22:4] if he is caught, he will pay #See Ps. 79:12sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34For #ch. 27:4; Song 8:6 jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when #[Lev. 20:10]he takes revenge.
35He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
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