Proverbs 6:1-23 ▼

1 My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor, Have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,

2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.

4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;

5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler,

8 Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.

9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

10 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”—

11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your want like an armed man.

12 A vile person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,

13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;

14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads contentions.

15 Therefore his disaster will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

16 There are six things which Yahweh hates, Even seven which are an abomination to Him:

17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,

18 A heart that devises wicked thoughts, Feet that hasten to run to evil,

19 A false witness who breathes out lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

20 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not abandon the law of your mother;

21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk about, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep watch over you; And when you awake, they will speak to you.

23 For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life