Against Pledges
6 My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself[a] to the stranger,
2 if you are snared by the sayings of your mouth,
if you are caught by the sayings of your mouth,
3 do this, then, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into the palm of your neighbor’s hand:[b]
Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes,
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand,
or like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Against Sloth
6 Go to the ant, lazy!
Consider its ways and be wise.
7 It has no chief,
officer, or ruler.
8 In the summer, it prepares its food;
in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance.
9 How long will you lie down, lazy?
When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands for rest—
11 like a robber[c] shall your poverty come,
and what you lack like an armed man.
Against Worthlessness
12 A worthless man, an evil man,
goes around with deceitful speech.[d]
13 Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,
pointing in his fingers,
14 perversion in his heart, he devises evil;
at all times he will send out discord.[e]
15 Upon such a man,[f] suddenly shall his calamity come;
in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.[g]
What Yahweh Hates
16 There are six things Yahweh hates,
and seven things are abominations of his soul:[h]
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a devising heart, plans of deception,
feet that hurry to run to evil,[i]
19 a false witness who breathes lies
and sends out discord[j] between brothers.
Commandment and Instruction as Guardians
20 My child, keep the commandment of your father,
and do not disregard the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually;
tie them upon your neck.
22 When you walk,[k] she[l] will lead you,
When you lie down,[m] she will watch over you,
and when you awake, she will converse with you.
23 For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,
and the way of life[n] is the reproof of discipline,
24 in order to preserve you from an evil woman,[o]
from the smoothness of the tongue of an adulteress.[p]
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart;
may she not capture you with her eyelashes.
26 For the price of a woman, a prostitute,[q] is the price of a loaf of bread,
but the woman belonging to a man[r] hunts precious life.
Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap,
and his clothes not burn?
28 If a man walks upon the hot coals,
will his feet not be burned?
29 Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,
any who touches her shall not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fill himself[s] when he is hungry.
31 But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,
every possession of his house he shall give.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense,[t]
he destroys himself[u] who does it.
33 A wound and dishonor he will find,
and his disgrace will not be wiped out.
34 For jealousy is the fury of a husband,
and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation,[v]
and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:1 Literally “palms of your hands”
- Proverbs 6:3 Literally “the palm of the hand of your neighbor”
- Proverbs 6:11 Literally “one who walks,” that is, a vagabond
- Proverbs 6:12 Literally “crookedness of mouth”
- Proverbs 6:14 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:15 Literally “thus”
- Proverbs 6:15 Or “repair”
- Proverbs 6:16 Or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:18 Hebrew “the evil”
- Proverbs 6:19 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your walking”
- Proverbs 6:22 That is, “commandment” and “instruction”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your lying down”
- Proverbs 6:23 Hebrew “lives”
- Proverbs 6:24 Or “wife”
- Proverbs 6:24 Literally “a foreign woman”
- Proverbs 6:26 Or “whore”
- Proverbs 6:26 Literally “the woman of a man”
- Proverbs 6:30 Or “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:32 Literally “heart”
- Proverbs 6:32 Or “his soul,” or “his life”
- Proverbs 6:35 Literally “the face of any compensation”