Proverbs 6:1-21 ▼

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

2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;

5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler,

8 Prepares her food in the summer, And gathers her provision in the harvest.

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

10 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”—

11 And your poverty will come in like a vagabond, And your need like an armed man.

12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a false mouth,

13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;

14 Who with perversity in his heart devises evil continually, Who spreads strife.

15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing.

16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,

18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,

19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

20 My son, observe the commandment of your father, And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;

21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.