PROVERBS 6 [†] My son, if you have put up  e security for your neighbor,

have  e given your pledge for a stranger,

2[†] if you are  f snared 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, [1] and  g plead urgently with your neighbor.

4  h Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, [2]

 i like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6[^][†]  j Go to  k the ant, O  l sluggard;

consider her ways, and  m be wise.

7[†]  n Without having any chief,

 o officer, or ruler,

8 she prepares her bread  p in summer

and  q gathers her food in harvest.

9  r How long will you lie there,  l O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10[†]  s A little sleep, a little slumber,

 t a little  s folding of the hands to rest,

11[†]  u and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12[†]  v A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with  w crooked speech,

13  x winks with his eyes, signals [3] with his feet,

points with his finger,

14 with  y perverted heart  z devises evil,

continually  a sowing discord;

15[†] therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

 b in a moment he will be broken  c beyond healing.

16[†] There are  d six things that the LORD hates,

 d seven that are an abomination to him:

17[†]  e haughty eyes,  f a lying tongue,

and  g hands that shed innocent blood,

18  h a heart that devises wicked plans,

 i feet that make haste to run to evil,

19  j a false witness who  k breathes out lies,

and one who  a sows discord among brothers.

20[†]  l My son, keep your father’s commandment,

 l and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

21  m Bind them on your heart always;

 n tie them around your neck.

22  o When you walk, they [4] will lead you;

 o when you lie down, they will  p watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is  q a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the  r reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24[^][†] to preserve you from the evil woman, [5]

from the smooth tongue of  s the adulteress. [6]

25[†]  t Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her  u eyelashes;

26[†] for  v the price of a prostitute is only  w a loaf of bread, [7]

but a married woman [8]  x hunts down a precious life.

27[†] Can a man carry  y fire next to his  z chest

and his clothes not be burned?

28 Or can one  a walk 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  b will go unpunished.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals

to  c satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31 but  d if he is caught, he will pay  e sevenfold;

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  f jealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when  g he takes revenge.

35[†] He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.