Warnings Against Laziness, Deceit, and Adultery.

Proverbs 6 contains a series of urgent warnings about careless entanglements, laziness, deceit, and sexual sin. It first warns against becoming trapped by reckless pledges, then rebukes the sluggard by pointing to the diligence of the ant. The chapter also exposes the corrupt heart of the man who sows discord, listing attitudes and actions that the Lord hates. In its closing section, it returns to the father’s instruction, showing that adultery is not a small private matter but a destructive sin that brings shame, loss, and judgment. The chapter’s purpose is to train the reader in practical wisdom, self-control, integrity, and holy fear before God.

Proverbs 6:1 – 6:35

  1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, [if] thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
  2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
  3 Do 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.
  4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
  5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter], and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
  6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
  7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
  8 Provideth her meat in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest.
  9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
  10 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
  11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
  12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
  13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
  14 Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
  15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
  16 These six [things] doth the Lord hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him:
  17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
  18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
  19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
  20 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
  21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, [and] tie them about thy neck.
  22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
  23 For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:
  24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
  25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
  26 For by means of a whorish woman [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
  27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
  28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
  29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
  30 [Men] do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
  31 But [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
  32 [But] whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
  33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
  34 For jealousy [is] the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
  35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.