6:1 My child, 2 if you have made a pledge 3 for your neighbor,
and 4 have become a guarantor 5 for a stranger, 6
6:2 if 7 you have been ensnared 8 by the words you have uttered, 9
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
6:3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, 10
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power: 11
go, humble yourself, 12
and appeal firmly 13 to your neighbor.
6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes 14
or slumber to your eyelids.
6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, 15
and like a bird from the trap 16 of the fowler.
6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; 17
observe its ways and be wise!
6:7 It has no commander,
overseer, or 18 ruler,
6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;
it gathers at the harvest what it will eat. 19
6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep? 20
6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax, 21
6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, 22
and your need like an armed man. 23
6:12 A worthless and wicked person 24
walks around saying perverse 25 things; 26
6:13 he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers; 27
6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts 28 in his heart,
he spreads contention 29 at all times.
6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant 30 he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
even 31 seven 32 things that are an abomination to him: 33
6:17 haughty eyes, 34 a lying tongue, 35
and hands that shed innocent blood, 36
6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, 37
feet that are swift to run 38 to evil,
6:19 a false witness who pours out lies, 39
and a person who spreads discord 40 among family members. 41