Proverbs 6 — NETB

6Verse 1My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor,
and have become a guarantor for a stranger,
^{Verse 2}if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered,
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
^{Verse 3}then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:
go, humble yourself,
and appeal firmly to your neighbor.
^{Verse 4}Permit no sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.
^{Verse 5}Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,
and like a bird from the trap of the fowler.
^{Verse 6}Go to the ant, you sluggard;
observe its ways and be wise!
^{Verse 7}It has no commander,
overseer, or ruler,
^{Verse 8}yet it prepares its food in the summer;
it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.
^{Verse 9}How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep?
^{Verse 10}A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax,
^{Verse 11}and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need like an armed man.
^{Verse 12}A worthless and wicked person
walks around saying perverse things;
^{Verse 13}he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers;
^{Verse 14}he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,
he spreads contention at all times.
^{Verse 15}Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
^{Verse 16}There are six things that the Lord hates,
even seven things that are an abomination to him:
^{Verse 17}haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
^{Verse 18}a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that are swift to run to evil,
^{Verse 19}a false witness who pours out lies,
and a person who spreads discord among family members.
^{Verse 20}My child, guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
^{Verse 21}Bind them on your heart continually;
fasten them around your neck.
^{Verse 22}When you walk about, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
^{Verse 23}For the commandments are like a lamp,
instruction is like a light,
and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,
^{Verse 24}by keeping you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.
^{Verse 25}Do not lust in your heart for her beauty,
and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;
^{Verse 26}for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.
^{Verse 27}Can a man hold fire against his chest
without burning his clothes?
^{Verse 28}Can a man walk on hot coals
without scorching his feet?
^{Verse 29}So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor’s wife;
no one who touches her will escape punishment.
^{Verse 30}People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fulfill his need when he is hungry.
^{Verse 31}Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over,
he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.
^{Verse 32}A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,
whoever does it destroys his own life.
^{Verse 33}He will be beaten and despised,
and his reproach will not be wiped away;
^{Verse 34}for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage,
and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.
^{Verse 35}He will not consider any compensation;
he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.