What this hexagram is about
The water has drained from the lake — the image of hardship and want. Though the body is hemmed in, the will is not: hold to what is right and bide your time, neither resentful nor disheartened; only by keeping faith through adversity can one risk all to fulfill one's purpose.
The Judgment 卦辞
困，亨，贞，大人吉，无咎。有言不信。
Success. Perseverance. The great person finds good fortune; no fault. Words spoken now are not believed.
The Image 大象传
《象》曰：泽无水，困；君子以致命遂志。
The lake has run dry, oppressed; so the noble person stakes his life to fulfill his purpose.
Commentary on the Lines 小象传
入于幽谷，幽不明也。
Entering a dark valley — in the gloom, nothing is clear.
The Six Lines (hover over the figure above)
Nine at the top困于葛藟，于臲卼，曰动悔。有悔，征吉。
Bound and entangled in creeping vines, the footing perilous and unsteady; but if one reflects that rash action breeds remorse, and truly repents and mends, to go forward brings good fortune.
Nine in the fifth place劓刖，困于赤绂，乃徐有说，利用祭祀。
Suffering the punishment of severed nose and feet, hemmed in by the scarlet sash of high rank — set above, yet pressed on every side; relief comes slowly, and it is fitting to make reverent offering, to reach the spirits and move the hearts of others.
Six in the fourth place来徐徐，困于金车，吝，有终。
The rescuer comes slowly, held up amid the trappings of a metal carriage — wealth and rank that clog the way; there is cause for regret, yet in the end a good outcome.
Six in the third place困于石，据于蒺藜，入于其宫，不见其妻，凶。
Pressed beneath a great rock and pierced by brambles, one returns home and does not find one's wife — misfortune; blocked whether one advances or retreats, leaning on what gives no support.
Nine in the second place困于酒食，朱绂方来，利用亨祀，征凶，无咎。
Hemmed in amid wine and food — bound by easy comfort — yet the scarlet sash of office is about to arrive; it is fitting to make reverent offering; to rush forward brings misfortune, but to endure the strait and bide one's time is without fault.
Initial Six臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三岁不觌。
Sitting hemmed against a bare tree stump and sunk into a dark ravine, for years one sees no light of day — oppression deep, with none to give aid.