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Proverbs 6
New Century Version
Proverbs 6
New Century Version
Dangers of Being Foolish
6 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else’s loan,
about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say;
you might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, if you have done this and are under your neighbor’s control,
here is how to get free.
Don’t be proud. Go to your neighbor
and beg to be free from your promise.
4 Don’t go to sleep
or even rest your eyes,
5 but free yourself like a deer running from a hunter,
like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6 Go watch the ants, you lazy person.
Watch what they do and be wise.
7 Ants have no commander,
no leader or ruler,
8 but they store up food in the summer
and gather their supplies at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy person?
When will you get up from sleeping?
10 You sleep a little; you take a nap.
You fold your hands and lie down to rest.
11 So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed;
you will have as little as if you had been held up.
12 Some people are wicked and no good.
They go around telling lies,
13 winking with their eyes, tapping with their feet,
and making signs with their fingers.
14 They make evil plans in their hearts
and are always starting arguments.
15 So trouble will strike them in an instant;
suddenly they will be so hurt no one can help them.
16 There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:
17 a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
19 a witness who lies,
and someone who starts arguments among families.
Warning About Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s commands,
and don’t forget your mother’s teaching.
21 Keep their words in mind forever
as though you had them tied around your neck.
22 They will guide you when you walk.
They will guard you when you sleep.
They will speak to you when you are awake.
23 These commands are like a lamp;
this teaching is like a light.
And the correction that comes from them
will help you have life.
24 They will keep you from sinful women
and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.
25 Don’t desire her because she is beautiful.
Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26 A prostitute will treat you like a loaf of bread,
and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest
without burning your clothes,
28 and you cannot walk on hot coals
without burning your feet.
29 The same is true if you have sexual relations with another man’s wife.
Anyone who does so will be punished.
30 People don’t hate a thief
when he steals because he is hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
and it may cost him everything he owns.
32 A man who takes part in adultery has no sense;
he will destroy himself.
33 He will be beaten up and disgraced,
and his shame will never go away.
34 Jealousy makes a husband very angry,
and he will have no pity when he gets revenge.
35 He will accept no payment for the wrong;
he will take no amount of money.
Proverbs 6
New International Version
Proverbs 6
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,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So 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!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.(E)
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle(F) from the hand of the hunter,(G)
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(H)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;(I)
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer(J)
and gathers its food at harvest.(K)
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(L)
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest(M)—
11 and poverty(N) will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A 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)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(S)
he will suddenly(T) be destroyed—without remedy.(U)
16 There 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
20 My son,(AD) keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(AE)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.(AF)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,(AG)
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,(AH)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(AI)
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(AJ)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(AK) with another man’s wife;(AL)
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(AM)
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(AN) has no sense;(AO)
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never(AP) be wiped away.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,
New Century Version (NCV) 
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.