Proverbs, 6
6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
6:2 if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
6:3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
6:4 Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
6:5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6:6 Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
6:7 Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
6:8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
6:9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
6:11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
6:13 winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
6:14 With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
6:15 Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
6:16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
6:19 a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
6:20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
6:21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
6:22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
6:23 For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
6:24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
6:25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
6:26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
6:27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
6:28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
6:29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
6:30 Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
6:31 Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
6:32 He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
6:33 Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.
6:34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
6:35 He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.