Proverbs 6 – New International Version (NIV)
Warnings Against Folly
- My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
- you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.
- So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a] and give your neighbor no rest!
- Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
- Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
- Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
- It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
- yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
- How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
- A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
- and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
- A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
- who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,
- who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.
- Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
- There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
- haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
- a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
- a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Warning Against Adultery
- My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.
- When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
- For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,
- keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
- Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
- For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
- Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
- Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
- So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
- People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
- Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
- But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.
- Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away.
- For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
- He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
Footnotes
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Proverbs 6 – King James Version (KJV)
- My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, If thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
- Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
- 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.
- Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids.
- Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
- Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:
- Which having no guide, Overseer, or ruler,
- Provideth her meat in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest.
- How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
- Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
- So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, And thy want as an armed man.
- A naughty person, a wicked man, Walketh with a froward mouth.
- He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, He teacheth with his fingers;
- Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; He soweth discord.
- Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; Suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
- These six things doth the LORD hate: Yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
- A proud look, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
- An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, Feet that be swift in running to mischief,
- A false witness that speaketh lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.
- My son, keep thy father’s commandment, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
- Bind them continually upon thine heart, And tie them about thy neck.
- When thou goest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
- For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
- To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
- Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
- 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.
- Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
- Can one go upon hot coals, And his feet not be burned?
- So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
- Men do not despise a thief, if he steal To satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
- But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; He shall give all the substance of his house.
- But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
- A wound and dishonour shall he get; And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
- For jealousy is the rage of a man: Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
- He will not regard any ransom; Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
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