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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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 6
6
More Warnings
1Have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts, my child? 2Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises? 3Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you. 4Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest. 5Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.
6Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. 7They have no leader, chief, or ruler, 8but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter. 9How long is the lazy man going to lie in bed? When is he ever going to get up? 10#Prov 24.33–34“I'll just take a short nap,” he says; “I'll fold my hands and rest a while.” 11But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.
12Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies. 13They wink and make gestures to deceive you, 14all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere. 15Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.
16-19There are seven things that the LORD hates and cannot tolerate:
a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
a mind that thinks up wicked plans,
feet that hurry off to do evil,
a witness who tells one lie after another,
and someone who stirs up trouble among friends.
Warning against Adultery
20Do what your father tells you, my son, and never forget what your mother taught you. 21Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart. 22Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day. 23Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live. 24It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives. 25Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes. 26A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.
27Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? 28Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet? 29It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer. 30People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;#6.30 People don't despise… hungry; or Don't people despise… hungry? 31yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more — he must give up everything he has. 32But a man who commits adultery hasn't any sense. He is just destroying himself. 33He will be dishonoured and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced. 34A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits. 35He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.