Proverbs 6

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 My son, if you have become surety to your neighbor, given your hand in pledge to another,	1 My son, if you have taken a pledge on behalf of your friend, then you have bound your hand to an outsider,
2 You have been snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth;	2 then you are ensnared by the words of your own mouth, and taken captive by your own words.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's power: Go, hurry, stir up your neighbor!	3 Therefore, my son, do what I say, and free yourself, for you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor. Run, hurry, awaken your friend.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids;	4 Do not grant sleep to your eyes, nor let your eyelids slumber.
5 Free yourself as a gazelle from the snare, or as a bird from the hand of the fowler.	5 Rescue yourself like a gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, study her ways and learn wisdom;	6 Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her ways, and so learn wisdom.
7 For though she has no chief, no commander or ruler,	7 For though she has no ruler, nor instructor, nor leader,
8 She procures her food in the summer, stores up her provisions in the harvest.	8 she provides meals for herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she may eat.
9 How long, O sluggard, will you rest? when will you rise from your sleep?	9 How long will you slumber, you lazy one? When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest--	10 You will sleep a little, you will slumber a little, you will fold your hands a little to sleep,
11 Then will poverty come upon you like a highway man, and want like an armed man.	11 and then destitution will meet with you, like a traveler, and poverty, like an armed man. Yet truly, if you would be diligent, then your harvest will arrive like a fountain, and destitution will flee far from you.
12 A scoundrel, a villain, is he who deals in crooked talk.	12 An apostate man, a harmful man, walks with a perverse mouth;
13 He winks his eyes, shuffles his feet, makes signs with his fingers;	13 he winks with the eyes, touches with the foot, speaks with the finger.
14 He has perversity in his heart, is always plotting evil, sows discord.	14 With a depraved heart he devises evil, and at all times he sows conflict.
15 Therefore suddenly ruin comes upon him; in an instant he is crushed beyond cure.	15 To this one, his perdition will arrive promptly, and he shall be crushed suddenly: he will no longer have any remedy.
16 There are six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him;	16 Six things there are that the Lord hates, and the seventh, his soul detests:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;	17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,	18 a heart that devises the most wicked thoughts, feet running swiftly unto evil,
19 The false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.	19 a deceitful witness bringing forth lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20 Observe, my son, your father's bidding, and reject not your mother's teaching;	20 My son, preserve the precepts of your father, and do not dismiss the law of your mother.
21 Keep them fastened over your heart always, put them around your neck;	21 Bind them to your heart unceasingly, and encircle them around your throat.
	22 When you walk, let them keep step with you. When you sleep, let them guard you. And when you keep watch, speak with them.
23 For the bidding is a lamp, and the teaching a light, and a way to life are the reproofs of discipline;	23 For commandment is a lamp, and law is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.
24 To keep you from your neighbor's wife, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.	24 So may they guard you from an evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the outsider.
25 Lust not in your heart after her beauty, let her not captivate you with her glance!	25 Let not your heart desire her beauty; do not be captivated by her winks.
26 For the price of a loose woman may be scarcely a loaf of bread, But if she is married, she is a trap for your precious life.	26 For the price of a prostitute is only one loaf. Yet the woman seizes the precious soul of a man.
27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his garments not burned?	27 Would a man be able to conceal fire in his bosom, so that his garments would not burn?
28 Or can a man walk on live coals, and his feet not be scorched?	28 Or could he walk over burning coals, so that his feet would not be burned?
29 So with him who goes in to his neighbor's wife-- none who touches her shall go unpunished.	29 So also, he who enters to the wife of his neighbor shall not be clean when he touches her.
30 Men despise not the thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry;	30 Not so great is the fault when someone has stolen. For he steals so as to satisfy a hungry soul.
31 Yet if he be caught he must pay back sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he may yield up.	31 Also, if he is apprehended, he shall repay sevenfold and hand over all the substance of his house.
32 But he who commits adultery is a fool; he who would destroy himself does it.	32 But whoever is an adulterer, because of the emptiness of his heart, will destroy his own soul.
33 A degrading beating will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away;	33 He gathers shame and dishonor to himself, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For vindictive is the husband's wrath, he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;	34 For the jealousy and fury of the husband will not spare him on the day of vindication,
35 He will not consider any restitution, nor be satisfied with the greatest gifts.	35 nor will he agree to the pleadings of anyone, nor will he accept, as repayment, a multitude of gifts.