What this hexagram is about
Water flowing on without cease, pit upon pit of peril — the image of dangers one after another. The way through danger: caught in the depths, keep inner sincerity and steadiness; move through peril without losing faith, and only so can one win free.
The Judgment 卦辞
习坎，有孚，维心亨，行有尚。
With sincerity, the heart wins through; whatever is done is esteemed.
The Image 大象传
《象》曰：水洊至，习坎；君子以常德行，习教事。
Water flows on, ever returning; so the noble person makes virtue constant in conduct and practices the work of teaching.
Commentary on the Lines 小象传
习坎入坎，失道凶也。
Falling into pit after pit — having lost the way, there is misfortune.
The Six Lines (hover over the figure above)
Six at the top系用徽纆，寘于丛棘，三岁不得，凶。
Bound with cords and shut in a thicket of thorns, for years unable to win free — misfortune.
Nine in the fifth place坎不盈，祗既平，无咎。
The water of the pit is not yet full; wait for it to settle, and the danger can at last be leveled — no fault.
Six in the fourth place樽酒簋贰，用缶，纳约自牖，终无咎。
A single jar of plain wine, two bowls of simple food, served in an earthen vessel and passed in plainly through the window as a pledge of faith; meeting danger, one binds with unadorned sincerity, and in the end there is no fault.
Six in the third place来之坎坎，险且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。
Come or go, it is all pits and peril, danger heaped on danger with no rest, and one sinks into the pit again; now is no time for rash movement.
Nine in the second place坎有险，求小得。
Caught in danger with peril on every side, one may seek only some small gain for now — this is no time to force one's escape.
Initial Six习坎，入于坎窞，凶。
Amid pit upon pit of peril, one falls into a deeper pit still — misfortune.