Proverbs 6

Evangelical Heritage Version

⁶ Go to the ant, you slacker!^[a]
Observe its ways and become wise.
⁷ Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler,
⁸ it stores its food in summer.
It gathers its provisions at harvest time.
⁹ How long will you lie there, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of your hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
and scarcity will come on you like a warrior.

¹² A worthless, wicked scoundrel,
who goes around with a corrupt mouth,
¹³ who winks with his eye, signals with his foot,
and gestures with his fingers,
¹⁴ who plots evil with a deceitful heart—
he always spreads conflict.
¹⁵ Therefore his disaster will come upon him suddenly.
All at once he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

¹⁶ These are six things the Lord hates,
seven things that really disgust him:
¹⁷ arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that run quickly to do evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes lies,
and a person who spreads conflict between brothers.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commands,
and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.
²¹ Fasten them permanently to your heart,
and tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will stand guard over you.
When you wake up, they will converse with you,
²³ because a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and the warnings given by discipline are a road to life.
²⁴ They guard you from an evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of a woman who is not your wife.
²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart.
Do not let her captivate you with her eyes.
²⁶ A prostitute costs you a loaf of bread,
but a married woman stalks your precious life.
²⁷ Can a man place fire on his lap
    without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man who goes to his neighbor’s wife.
No one who touches her will be forgiven.
³⁰ No one despises a thief when he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving,
³¹ but when he is caught, he will have to repay seven times as much.
He will have to give up all the wealth of his house.
³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks sense.
He who does it destroys himself.
³³ He will find disease and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be wiped out,
³⁴ because jealousy ignites a husband’s anger,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not accept any amount as a payment.
He will not relent, even if you increase your offer.