6:2 if 1 you have been ensnared 2 by the words you have uttered, 3
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
6:3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, 4
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power: 5
go, humble yourself, 6
and appeal firmly 7 to your neighbor.
6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes 8
or slumber to your eyelids.
6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, 9
and like a bird from the trap 10 of the fowler.
6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; 11
observe its ways and be wise!
6:7 It has no commander,
overseer, or 12 ruler,
6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;
it gathers at the harvest what it will eat. 13
6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep? 14
6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax, 15
6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, 16
and your need like an armed man. 17
6:12 A worthless and wicked person 18
walks around saying perverse 19 things; 20
6:13 he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers; 21
6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts 22 in his heart,
he spreads contention 23 at all times.
6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant 24 he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
even 25 seven 26 things that are an abomination to him: 27
6:17 haughty eyes, 28 a lying tongue, 29
and hands that shed innocent blood, 30
6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, 31
feet that are swift to run 32 to evil,
6:19 a false witness who pours out lies, 33
and a person who spreads discord 34 among family members. 35
6:20 My child, guard the commands of your father
and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
6:21 Bind them 36 on your heart continually;
fasten them around your neck.
6:22 When you walk about, 37 they 38 will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, 39 they will talk 40 to you.
6:23 For the commandments 41 are like 42 a lamp, 43
instruction is like a light,
and rebukes of discipline are like 44 the road leading to life, 45
6:24 by keeping 46 you from the evil woman, 47
from the smooth tongue of 48 the loose woman. 49
6:25 Do not lust 50 in your heart for her beauty,
and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes; 51
6:26 for on account 52 of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man 53 preys on your precious life. 54
6:27 Can a man hold 55 fire 56 against his chest 57
without 58 burning his clothes?
6:28 Can 59 a man walk on hot coals
without scorching his feet?
6:29 So it is with 60 the one who has sex with 61 his neighbor’s wife;
no one 62 who touches 63 her will escape 64 punishment. 65
6:30 People 66 do not despise a thief when he steals
to fulfill his need 67 when he is hungry.
6:31 Yet 68 if he is caught 69 he must repay 70 seven times over,
he might even have to give 71 all the wealth of his house.
6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, 72
whoever does it destroys his own life. 73
6:33 He will be beaten and despised, 74
and his reproach will not be wiped away; 75
6:34 for jealousy kindles 76 a husband’s 77 rage,
and he will not show mercy 78 when he takes revenge.
6:35 He will not consider 79 any compensation; 80
he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. 81