Proverbs 6

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 My child, if you have gone surety for your neighbour, if you have guaranteed the bond of a stranger,	1 My son, if you have become surety to your neighbor, given your hand in pledge to another,
2 if you have committed yourself with your lips, if through words of yours you have been entrapped,	2 You have been snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth;
3 do this, my child, to extricate yourself -- since you have put yourself in the power of your neighbour: go,humble yourself, plead with your neighbour,	3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's power: Go, hurry, stir up your neighbor!
4 give your eyes no sleep, your eyelids no rest,	4 Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 break free like a gazel e from the trap, like a bird from the fowler's clutches.	5 Free yourself as a gazelle from the snare, or as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Idler, go to the ant; ponder her ways and grow wise:	6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, study her ways and learn wisdom;
7 no one gives her orders, no overseer, no master,	7 For though she has no chief, no commander or ruler,
8 yet al through the summer she gets her food ready, and gathers her supplies at harvest time.	8 She procures her food in the summer, stores up her provisions in the harvest.
9 How long do you intend to lie there, idler? When are you going to rise from your sleep?	9 How long, O sluggard, will you rest? when will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little drowsiness, a little folding of the arms to lie back,	10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest--
11 and poverty comes like a vagrant and, like a beggar, dearth.	11 Then will poverty come upon you like a highway man, and want like an armed man.
12 A scoundrel, a vicious man, he goes with a leer on his lips,	12 A scoundrel, a villain, is he who deals in crooked talk.
13 winking his eye, shuffling his foot, beckoning with his finger.	13 He winks his eyes, shuffles his feet, makes signs with his fingers;
14 Trickery in his heart, always scheming evil, he sows dissension.	14 He has perversity in his heart, is always plotting evil, sows discord.
15 Disaster wil overtake him sharply for this, suddenly, irretrievably, he wil be broken.	15 Therefore suddenly ruin comes upon him; in an instant he is crushed beyond cure.
16 There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that he abhors:	16 There are six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him;
17 a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,	17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;
18 a heart that weaves wicked plots, feet that hurry to do evil,	18 A heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
19 a false witness who lies with every breath, and one who sows dissension among brothers.	19 The false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20 Keep your father's precept, my child, do not spurn your mother's teaching.	20 Observe, my son, your father's bidding, and reject not your mother's teaching;
21 Bind them ever to your heart, tie them round your neck.	21 Keep them fastened over your heart always, put them around your neck;
22 While you are active, they will guide you, when you fal asleep, they wil watch over you, when youwake up, they will converse with you.
23 For the precept is a lamp, the teaching is a light; correction and discipline are the way to life,	23 For the bidding is a lamp, and the teaching a light, and a way to life are the reproofs of discipline;
24 preserving you from the woman of bad character, from the wheedling talk of a woman who belongs toanother.	24 To keep you from your neighbor's wife, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Do not covet her beauty in your heart or let her captivate you with the play of her eyes;	25 Lust not in your heart after her beauty, let her not captivate you with her glance!
26 a prostitute can be bought for a hunk of bread, but a married woman aims to snare a precious life.	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.
27 Can a man carry fire inside his shirt without setting his clothes alight?	27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his garments not burned?
28 Can you walk on red-hot coals without burning your feet?	28 Or can a man walk on live coals, and his feet not be scorched?
29 Just so, the man who makes love to his neighbour's wife: no one who touches her wil get offunpunished.	29 So with him who goes in to his neighbor's wife-- none who touches her shall go unpunished.
30 People attach but little blame to a thief who steals only to satisfy his hunger;	30 Men despise not the thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry;
31 yet even he, if caught, wil have to repay sevenfold and hand over all his family resources.	31 Yet if he be caught he must pay back sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he may yield up.
32 But the adulterer has no sense; he works his own destruction.	32 But he who commits adultery is a fool; he who would destroy himself does it.
33 All he wil get is blows and contempt, and dishonour never to be blotted out.	33 A degrading beating will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away;
34 For jealousy inflames the husband who wil show no mercy when the day comes for revenge;	34 For vindictive is the husband's wrath, he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;
35 he wil not consider any compensation; lavish what gifts you may, he wil not be placated.	35 He will not consider any restitution, nor be satisfied with the greatest gifts.