Proverbs, 6

1. My child, if you have gone surety for your neighbour, if you have guaranteed the bond of a stranger,

1. My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger;

2. if you have committed yourself with your lips, if through words of yours you have been entrapped,

2. if you are snared in the utterance of your lips, caught in the words of your mouth;

3. do this, my child, to extricate yourself -- since you have put yourself in the power of your neighbour: go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbour,

3. then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into your neighbor's power: go, hasten, and importune your neighbor.

4. give your eyes no sleep, your eyelids no rest,

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

5. break free like a gazelle from the trap, like a bird from the fowler's clutches.

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

6. Idler, go to the ant; ponder her ways and grow wise:

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

7. no one gives her orders, no overseer, no master,

7. Without having any chief, officer or ruler,

8. yet all through the summer she gets her food ready, and gathers her supplies at harvest time.

8. she prepares her food in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest.

9. How long do you intend to lie there, idler? When are you going to rise from your sleep?

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

10. A little sleep, a little drowsiness, a little folding of the arms to lie back,

10. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,

11. and poverty comes like a vagrant and, like a beggar, dearth.

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

12. A scoundrel, a vicious man, he goes with a leer on his lips,

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

13. winking his eye, shuffling his foot, beckoning with his finger.

13. winks with his eyes, scrapes with his feet, points with his finger,

14. Trickery in his heart, always scheming evil, he sows dissension.

14. with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;

15. Disaster will overtake him sharply for this, suddenly, irretrievably, he will be broken.

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

16. There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that he abhors:

16. There are six things which the LORD hates, seven which are an abomination to him:

17. a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

17. haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18. a heart that weaves wicked plots, feet that hurry to do evil,

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

19. a false witness who lies with every breath, and one who sows dissension among brothers.

19. a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers.

20. Keep your father's precept, my child, do not spurn your mother's teaching.

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

21. Bind them ever to your heart, tie them round your neck.

21. Bind them upon your heart always; tie them about your neck.

22. While you are active, they will guide you, when you fall asleep, they will watch over you, when you wake up, they will converse with you.

22. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23. For the precept is a lamp, the teaching is a light; correction and discipline are the way to life,

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

24. preserving you from the woman of bad character, from the wheedling talk of a woman who belongs to another.

24. to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adventuress.

25. Do not covet her beauty in your heart or let her captivate you with the play of her eyes;

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

26. a prostitute can be bought for a hunk of bread, but a married woman aims to snare a precious life.

26. for a harlot may be hired for a loaf of bread, but an adulteress stalks a man's very life.

27. Can a man carry fire inside his shirt without setting his clothes alight?

27. Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?

28. Can you walk on red-hot coals without burning your feet?

28. Or can one walk upon hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

29. Just so, the man who makes love to his neighbour's wife: no one who touches her will get off unpunished.

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

30. People attach but little blame to a thief who steals only to satisfy his hunger;

30. Do not men despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry?

31. yet even he, if caught, will have to repay sevenfold and hand over all his family resources.

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

32. But the adulterer has no sense; he works his own destruction.

32. He who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself.

33. All he will get is blows and contempt, and dishonour never to be blotted out.

33. Wounds and dishonor will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34. For jealousy inflames the husband who will show no mercy when the day comes for revenge;

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

35. he will not consider any compensation; lavish what gifts you may, he will not be placated.

35. He will accept no compensation, nor be appeased though you multiply gifts.