Proverbs 6:8-27

⁸He prepares food for himself in the summer, And lays by abundant store in harvest.

^8aOr go to the bee, And learn how diligent she is, And how earnestly she is engaged in her work;

^8bWhose labors kings and private men use for health, And she is desired and respected by all:

^8cThough weak in body, She is advanced by honoring wisdom.

⁹How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard? And when wilt thou awake out of sleep?

¹⁰Thou sleepest a little, and thou restest a little, and thou slumberest a short time, And thou foldest thine arms over thy breast a little.

¹¹Then poverty comes upon thee as an evil traveler, And want as a swift courier:

^11aBut if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall arrive as a fountain, And poverty shall flee away as a bad courier.

¹²A foolish man and a transgressor Goes in ways that are not good.

¹³And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, And teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.

¹⁴His perverse heart devises evils: At all times such a one causes troubles to a city.

¹⁵Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; Overthrow and irretrievable ruin.

¹⁶For he rejoices in all things which God hates, And he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.

¹⁷The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, Hands shedding the blood of the just;

¹⁸And a heart devising evil thoughts, And feet hastening to do evil—are hateful to God.

¹⁹An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, And brings on quarrels between brethren.

²⁰My son, keep the laws of thy father, And reject not the ordinances of thy mother:

²¹But bind them upon thy soul continually, And hang them as a chain about thy neck.

²²Whensoever thou walkest, lead this along and let it be with thee; And when thou sleepest let it keep thee; That it may talk with thee when thou wakest.

²³For the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light; A way of life; reproof also and correction:

²⁴To keep thee continually from a married woman, And from the calumny of a strange tongue.

²⁵Let not the desire of beauty overcome thee, Neither be thou caught by thine eyes, Neither be captivated with her eyelids.

²⁶For the value of a harlot is as much as of one loaf; And a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.

²⁷Shall anyone bind fire in his bosom, And not burn his garments?