Proverbs 6 - Easy To Read Version

¹ My son, don’t make yourself responsible for another person’s debts. Don’t make such deals with friends or with strangers.

² \{If you do,\} then you will be trapped. And you will have trapped yourself with your own words!

³ You are under that person’s power. So go to him and free yourself. Beg that person to free you from his debt.

⁴ Don’t even wait to rest or sleep.

⁵ Escape from that trap like a deer running from a hunter. Free yourself like a bird flying out of a trap.

⁶ Lazy person, you should become like the ant. See what the ant does. Learn from the ant.

⁷ The ant has no ruler, no boss, no leader.

⁸ But during summer, the ant gathers all its food. The ant saves its food. And in the winter, it has plenty of food.

⁹ Lazy person, how long will you lie there? When will you get up from your rest?

¹⁰ The lazy person says, “I need a short nap. I will lie here for a short rest.”

¹¹ But he sleeps and sleeps. And he becomes poorer and poorer. Soon he will have nothing! It will be like a robber has come and stolen everything.

¹² An evil and worthless person tells lies and says bad things.

¹³ He winks his eye and makes signs with his hands and feet to trick people.

¹⁴ That person is a troublemaker. He is always planning to do something bad. He makes trouble everywhere.

¹⁵ \{But he will be punished.\} All of a sudden, disaster will strike. He will suddenly be destroyed! And there will be no one to help him!

¹⁶ The Lord hates these six, no seven, things:\par

¹⁷ eyes that show a man is proud,\par tongues that tells lies,\par hands that kill innocent people,\par

¹⁸ hearts that plan bad things to do,\par feet that run to do evil things,\par

¹⁹ a person who tells lies in court\par and says things that are not true,\par a person who starts arguments\par and causes fights between other people.\par

²⁰ My son, remember your father’s commands. And don’t forget your mother’s teachings.

²¹ \{Remember their words always\}—tie them around your neck and keep them over your heart.

²² Their teachings will lead you wherever you go. They will watch over you while you sleep. And when you wake up, they will talk to you and guide you.

²³ The commands and teachings from your parents are like a light that shows you the right way. They correct you and train you to follow the path to life.

²⁴ Their teaching stops you from going to an evil woman. Their words protect you from the smooth talk of the wife that left her husband.

²⁵ That woman might be beautiful. But don’t let that beauty burn inside you and tempt you. Don’t let her eyes capture you.

²⁶ A prostitute {\cf2\super [6]} might cost a loaf of bread. But the wife of another man can cost you your life!

²⁷ If a man spills fire on himself, his clothes will also be burned.

²⁸ If a man steps on a hot coal, his feet will be burned!

^29-30-31 It is the same with any person who sleeps with another man’s wife. That person will suffer.

³² But a man who does the sin of adultery is foolish. He is destroying himself—he himself causes his own destruction!

³³ People will lose all their respect for him. And he will never lose that shame.

³⁴ The woman’s husband will become jealous. That husband will be very angry. He will do anything he can to punish the other man.

³⁵ No payment—no amount of money—will be enough to stop his anger!