Proverbs - Chapter 6 | New King James Version

  • 1. My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
  • 2. You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
  • 3. So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.
  • 4. Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
  • 5. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler. {cf2super [8]}
  • 6. Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
  • 7. Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
  • 8. Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
  • 9. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
  • 10. A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep--
  • 11. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
  • 12. A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
  • 13. He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;
  • 14. Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
  • 15. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
  • 16. These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
  • 17. A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
  • 18. A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
  • 19. A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
  • 20. My son, keep your father's command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
  • 21. Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
  • 22. When you roam, they {cf2super [9]} will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
  • 23. For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
  • 24. To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
  • 25. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
  • 26. For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress {cf2super [10]} will prey upon his precious life.
  • 27. Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
  • 28. Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
  • 29. So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
  • 30. People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
  • 31. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
  • 32. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
  • 33. Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.
  • 34. For jealousy is a husband's fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
  • 35. He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.
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