Proverbs 6:1-15 ▼

1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, Have given a pledge for a stranger,

2 [If] you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;

5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from [the hunter's] hand And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler,

8 Prepares her food in the summer [And] gathers her provision in the harvest.

9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

10 |A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest|--

11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.

12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,

13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;

14 Who [with] perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife.

15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.