Proverbs 6 - ESV Bible - My son, if you have put up security for your...

1 My son, if you have put up ¹security for your neighbor, have ²given your pledge for a stranger,

2 if you are ³snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,

3 then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten,^a and ⁴plead urgently with your neighbor.

4 ⁵Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;

5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,^b ⁶like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 ⁷Go to ⁸the ant, O ⁹sluggard; consider her ways, and ¹⁰be wise.

7 ¹¹Without having any chief, ¹²officer, or ruler,

8 she prepares her bread ¹³in summer and ¹⁴gathers her food in harvest.

9 ¹⁵How long will you lie there, ¹⁶O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

10 ¹⁷A little sleep, a little slumber, ¹⁸a little ¹⁹folding of the hands to rest,

11 ²⁰and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

12 ²¹A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with ²²crooked speech,

13 ²³winks with his eyes, signals^c with his feet, points with his finger,

14 with ²⁴perverted heart ²⁵devises evil, continually ²⁶sowing discord;

15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; ²⁷in a moment he will be broken ²⁸beyond healing.

16 There are ²⁹six things that the LORD hates, ³⁰seven that are an abomination to him:

17 ³¹haughty eyes, ³²a lying tongue, and ³³hands that shed innocent blood,

18 ³⁴a heart that devises wicked plans, ³⁵feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 ³⁶a false witness who ³⁷breathes out lies, and one who ³⁸sows discord among brothers.

20 ³⁹My son, keep your father's commandment, ⁴⁰and forsake not your mother's teaching.

21 ⁴¹Bind them on your heart always; ⁴²tie them around your neck.

22 ⁴³When you walk, they^d will lead you; ⁴⁴when you lie down, they will ⁴⁵watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is ⁴⁶a lamp and the teaching a light, and the ⁴⁷reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24 to preserve you from the evil woman,^e from the smooth tongue of ⁴⁸the adulteress.^f

25 ⁴⁹Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her ⁵⁰eyelashes;

26 for ⁵¹the price of a prostitute is only ⁵²a loaf of bread,^g but a married woman^h⁵³hunts down a precious life.

27 Can a man carry ⁵⁴fire next to his ⁵⁵chest and his clothes not be burned?

28 Or can one ⁵⁶walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her ⁵⁷will go unpunished.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to ⁵⁸satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31 but ⁵⁹if he is caught, he will pay ⁶⁰sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.

32 He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.

33 He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34 For ⁶¹jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when ⁶²he takes revenge.

35 He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Proverbs 6 ESV