Proverbs 6-7

New International Version

Warnings Against Folly

6 My son,^(A) if you have put up security^(B) for your neighbor,^(C)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge^(D) for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.^(E)
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^(F) from the hand of the hunter,^(G)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.^(H)

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(I)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^(J)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(K)

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(L)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(M)—
¹¹and poverty^(N) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,^(O)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(P)
¹⁴    who plots evil^(Q) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(R)
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(S)
    he will suddenly^(T) be destroyed—without remedy.^(U)

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^(V)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,^(W)
        a lying tongue,^(X)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(Y)
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(Z)
¹⁹        a false witness^(AA) who pours out lies^(AB)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(AC)

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰My son,^(AD) keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^(AE)
²¹Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.^(AF)
²²When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
²³For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,^(AG)
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,^(AH)
²⁴keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.^(AI)

²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(AJ)
²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹So is he who sleeps^(AK) with another man’s wife;^(AL)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^(AM)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³²But a man who commits adultery^(AN) has no sense;^(AO)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never^(AP) be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy^(AQ) arouses a husband’s fury,^(AR)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^(AS)

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son,^(AT) keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
²Keep my commands and you will live;^(AU)
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.^(AV)
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.^(AW)

⁶At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.^(AX)
⁸He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹at twilight,^(AY) as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹(She is unruly^(AZ) and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)^(BA)
¹³She took hold of him^(BB) and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:^(BC)

¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering^(BD) at home.
¹⁵So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed^(BE)
    with myrrh,^(BF) aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!^(BG)
¹⁹My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.^(BH)
²²All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[b] stepping into a noose^[c]^(BI)
²³    till an arrow pierces^(BJ) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.^(BK)

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen^(BL) to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.^(BM)
²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.^(BN)