Proverbs

The Proverbs, chapter 6, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 6 New English Translation

   Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts
   1 My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor, and have become a guarantor for a stranger,
   2 if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered, and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
   3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, because you have fallen into your neighbor's power:go, humble yourself, and appeal firmly to your neighbor.
   4 Permit no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
   5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, and like a bird from the trap of the fowler.
   6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; observe its ways and be wise!
   7 It has no commander, overseer, or ruler,
   8 yet it prepares its food in the summer; it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.
   9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep?
   10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax,
   11 and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man.
   12 A worthless and wicked person walks around saying perverse things;
   13 he winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, and points with his fingers;
   14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart, he spreads contention at all times.
   15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
   16 There are six things that the LORD hates, even seven things that are an abomination to him:
   17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
   18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil,
   19 a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who spreads discord among family members.
   20 My child, guard the commands of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
   21 Bind them on your heart continually; fasten them around your neck.
   22 When you walk about, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you.
   23 For the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,
   24 by keeping you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.
   25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;
   26 for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.
   27 Can a man hold fire against his chest without burning his clothes?
   28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
   29 So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will escape punishment.
   30 People do not despise a thief when he steals to fulfill his need when he is hungry.
   31 Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over, he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.
   32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, whoever does it destroys his own life.
   33 He will be beaten and despised, and his reproach will not be wiped away;
   34 for jealousy kindles a husband's rage, and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.
   35 He will not consider any compensation; he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.

King James Version

   1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
   2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
   3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
   4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
   5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
   6 ¶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
   7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
   8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
   9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
   10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
   11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
   12 ¶ A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
   13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
   14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
   15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
   16 ¶ These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
   17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
   18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
   19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
   20 ¶ My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
   21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
   22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
   23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
   24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
   25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
   26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
   27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
   28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
   29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
   30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
   31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
   32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
   33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
   34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
   35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.