Proverbs 6
6
Dangers of Being Foolish
1My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else.
Be careful about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2You might get trapped by what you say.
You might be caught by your own words.
3My child, you might do this and be under somebody’s control.
Then here is how to get free.
Go to your neighbor and don’t be proud.
Beg him to free you from your promise.
4Don’t go to sleep.
Don’t even rest your eyes.
5But free yourself like a deer running from a hunter.
Free yourself like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6Go watch the ants, you lazy person.
Watch what they do and be wise.
7Ants have no commander.
They have no leader or ruler.
8But they store up food in the summer.
They gather their supplies at harvest.
9How long will you lie there, you lazy person?
When will you get up from sleeping?
10You sleep a little; you take a nap.
You fold your hands and rest.
11So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed.
You will have as little as if you had been held up.
12Some people are wicked and no good.
They go around telling lies.
13They wink with their eyes and signal with their feet.
They make signs with their fingers.
14They make evil plans in their hearts.
They are always causing trouble.
15So trouble will strike them in an instant.
Suddenly they will be hurt beyond cure.
16There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:
17a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
19a witness who tells lies
and a man who causes trouble among brothers.
Warning About Adultery
20My son, keep your father’s commands.
Don’t forget your mother’s teaching.
21Remember their words forever.
Let it be as if they were tied around your neck.
22They will guide you when you walk.
They will guard you while you sleep.
They will speak to you when you are awake.
23Their commands are like a lamp.
Their teaching is like a light.
And the correction that comes from them
helps you have life.
24Such teaching will keep you from sinful women
and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.
25Don’t want her because she is beautiful.
Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26A prostitute may leave you with only a loaf of bread.
And a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27You cannot carry hot coals against your chest
without burning your clothes.
28And you cannot walk on hot coals
without burning your feet.
29The same thing happens if you commit adultery with another man’s wife.
Anyone who does so will be punished.
30People do not hate a thief
when he steals because he is hungry.
31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole.
It may cost him everything he owns.
32A man who takes part in adultery doesn’t have any sense.
He will destroy himself.
33He will be beaten up and disgraced.
And his shame will never go away.
34Jealousy makes a husband very angry.
He will have no mercy when he gets even.
35He will accept no payment for the wrong.
He will take no money, no matter how much it is.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Proverbs 6
6
Avoid Disaster
1My son,
if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor
or pledge yourself for a stranger with a handshake,
2you are trapped by the words of your own mouth,
caught by your own promise.
3Do the following things, my son, so that you may free yourself,
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Humble yourself,
and pester your neighbor.
4Don’t let your eyes rest
or your eyelids close.
5Free yourself like a gazelle from the hand of a hunter
and like a bird from the hand of a hunter.
6Consider the ant, you lazy bum.
Watch its ways, and become wise.
7Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler,
8in summertime it stores its food supply.
At harvest time it gathers its food.
9How long will you lie there, you lazy bum?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10“Just a little sleep,
just a little slumber,
just a little nap.”
11Then your poverty will come ⌞to you⌟ like a drifter,
and your need will come ⌞to you⌟ like a bandit.
12A good-for-nothing scoundrel is a person who has a dishonest mouth.
13He winks his eye,
makes a signal with his foot,
⌞and⌟ points with his fingers.
14He devises evil all the time with a twisted mind.
He spreads conflict.
15That is why disaster will come on him suddenly.
In a moment he will be crushed beyond recovery.
16There are six things that the Lord hates,
even seven that are disgusting to him:
17arrogant eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18a mind devising wicked plans,
feet that are quick to do wrong,
19a dishonest witness spitting out lies,
and a person who spreads conflict among relatives.
More Advice about Avoiding Adultery
20My son,
obey the command of your father,
and do not disregard the teachings of your mother.
21Fasten them on your heart forever.
Hang them around your neck.
22When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will watch over you.
When you wake up, they will talk to you
23because the command is a lamp,
the teachings are a light,
and the warnings from discipline are the path of life
24to keep you from an evil woman
and from the smooth talk of a loose woman.
25Do not desire her beauty in your heart.
Do not let her catch you with her eyes.
26A prostitute’s price is ⌞only⌟ a loaf of bread,
but a married woman hunts for ⌞your⌟ life itself.
27Can a man carry fire in his lap
without burning his clothes?
28Can anyone walk on red-hot coals
without burning his feet?
29So it is with a man who has sex with his neighbor’s wife.
None who touch her will escape punishment.
30People do not despise a thief who is hungry
when he steals to satisfy his appetite,
31but when he is caught,
he has to repay it seven times.
He must give up all the possessions in his house.
32Whoever commits adultery with a woman has no sense.
Whoever does this destroys himself.
33An adulterous man will find disease #6:33 Or “wounds.” and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be blotted out,
34because jealousy arouses a husband’s fury.
The husband will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35No amount of money will change his mind.
The largest bribe will not satisfy him.
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