Proverbs 6 (New International Version)

Warnings Against Folly

1 My son,¹ if you have put up security² for your neighbor,³ if you have struck hands in pledge⁴ for another, 2 if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.⁵ 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle⁶ from the hand of the hunter,⁷ like a bird from the snare of the fowler.⁸ 6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;⁹ consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer¹⁰ and gathers its food at harvest.¹¹ 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?¹² When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest¹³-- 11 and poverty¹⁴ will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.^a 12 A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, 13 who winks with his eye,¹⁵ signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,¹⁶ 14 who plots evil¹⁷ with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension.¹⁸ 15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;¹⁹ he will suddenly²⁰ be destroyed--without remedy.²¹ 16 There are six things the LORD hates,²² seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes,²³ a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness²⁴ who pours out lies²⁵ and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

20 My son,²⁶ keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching.²⁷ 21 Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.²⁸ 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. 23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light,²⁹ and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,³⁰ 24 keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.³¹ 25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, 26 for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.³² 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps³³ with another man's wife;³⁴ no one who touches her will go unpunished. 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,³⁵ though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32 But a man who commits adultery³⁶ lacks judgment;³⁷ whoever does so destroys himself. 33 Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never³⁸ be wiped away; 34 for jealousy³⁹ arouses a husband's fury,⁴⁰ and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35 He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.⁴¹