Proverbs 6

My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

1My son, maybe you promised to pay a friend's debt. Maybe you shook hands with a stranger to promise it.

NoteBeing "surety" and "striking hands" mean promising, with a handshake, to pay someone else's debt if that person does not pay it.

2Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

2If you did, your own words have trapped you. What you said has caught you.

3Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

3So do this to get free, my son. You are now in your friend's hands. Go to him. Be humble. Beg him to let you go.

4Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

4Do not let your eyes sleep. Do not even let them close for a nap.

5Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

5Get away fast. Be like a deer running from a hunter. Be like a bird slipping out of a trapper's hand.

6Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

6Go and watch the ant, you lazy one. Look at how she lives, and get wise.

7Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

7No one tells the ant what to do. She has no leader, no boss, no ruler.

8Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

8Still she gets her food ready in summer. She gathers it in at harvest time.

NoteIn 1611 English, "meat" meant food of any kind, not just meat from animals.

9How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

9How long will you lie there, lazy one? When will you get up from your sleep?

10Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

10You say, "Just a little sleep. Just a little nap. Just a little folding of my hands to rest."

11So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

11Then being poor will jump on you like a robber. Needing things will come like a man with a weapon.

Note"Want" here means being without the things you need. The old words "one that travelleth" mean a robber on the road.

12A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

12A worthless man, a bad man, walks around with crooked, twisted words.

Note"Naughty" here does not mean a little bit bad. It means worthless. "Froward" means crooked or twisted.

13He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

13He winks his eyes. He shuffles his feet. He points with his fingers. He is sending secret signals.

14Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

14His heart is crooked. He is always planning trouble. He starts fights between people.

15Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

15So trouble will hit him all at once. He will be broken suddenly, and no one can fix it.

16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

16There are six things the LORD, God, hates. Yes, there are seven things He cannot stand.

17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

17Proud eyes. A tongue that tells lies. Hands that kill people who did nothing wrong.

18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

18A heart that plans wicked things. Feet that run fast to do harm.

19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

19A person who lies when he is asked to tell the truth. And a person who starts fights between brothers.

20My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

20My son, do what your father tells you. Do not throw away what your mother teaches you.

21Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

21Keep their words in your heart always. Tie them around your neck like a necklace.

22When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

22When you walk, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will guard you. When you wake up, they will talk with you.

23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

23These commands are like a lamp. This teaching is like light. Being corrected shows you the way to live.

24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

24They keep you away from a bad woman. They keep you from the sweet, smooth words of another man's wife.

25Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

25Do not want her beauty in your heart. Do not let her eyes catch you.

26For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

26A woman who sells her body can cost a man everything he owns. And another man's wife hunts a man's very life.

27Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

27Can a man hold fire against his chest and not burn his clothes?

28Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

28Can a man walk on hot coals and not burn his feet?

29So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

29It is the same for a man who sleeps with his neighbor's wife. No one who touches her will get away without punishment.

30Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

30People do not think too badly of a thief who steals because he is hungry.

31But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times as much. He may give up everything in his house.

32But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

32But a man who sleeps with another man's wife has no sense. He is ruining his own life.

33A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

33He will get hurt, and people will shame him. His bad name will never be washed away.

34For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

34The woman's husband will be full of angry jealousy. He will show no mercy when he pays that man back.

35He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

35He will not take money to let it go. No gift, however big, will make him satisfied.