Proverbs 6

^{Proverbs 6:1} My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

^{Proverbs 6:2} if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,

^{Proverbs 6:3} then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.

^{Proverbs 6:4} Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.

^{Proverbs 6:5} Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

^{Proverbs 6:6} Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

^{Proverbs 6:7} Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,

^{Proverbs 6:8} it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.

^{Proverbs 6:9} How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?

^{Proverbs 6:10} A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,

^{Proverbs 6:11} and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

^{Proverbs 6:12} A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,

^{Proverbs 6:13} winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.

^{Proverbs 6:14} With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.

^{Proverbs 6:15} Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

^{Proverbs 6:16} There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

^{Proverbs 6:17} haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

^{Proverbs 6:18} a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

^{Proverbs 6:19} a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

^{Proverbs 6:20} My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

^{Proverbs 6:21} Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.

^{Proverbs 6:22} When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.

^{Proverbs 6:23} For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

^{Proverbs 6:24} to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

^{Proverbs 6:25} Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

^{Proverbs 6:26} For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

^{Proverbs 6:27} Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?

^{Proverbs 6:28} Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

^{Proverbs 6:29} So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

^{Proverbs 6:30} Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.

^{Proverbs 6:31} Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.

^{Proverbs 6:32} He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

^{Proverbs 6:33} Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.

^{Proverbs 6:34} For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

^{Proverbs 6:35} He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.