Lexham English Bible LEB
New International Version NIV
1 My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor, [if] you have bound {yourself} to the stranger,
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My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 [if] you are snared by the sayings of your mouth, [if] you are caught by the sayings of your mouth,
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you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 do this, then, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into {the palm of your neighbor's hand}: Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.
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So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion—and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, or slumber to your eyelids.
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Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand, or like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
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Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, lazy! Consider its ways and be wise.
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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no chief, officer, or ruler.
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It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 In the summer, it prepares its food; in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance.
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yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, lazy? When will you rise up from your sleep?
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How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest--
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 like a {robber} shall your poverty come, and what you lack like an armed man.
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and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A worthless man, an evil man, goes around with {deceitful speech}.
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A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot, pointing in his fingers,
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who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,
14 perversion in his heart, he devises evil; at all times he will send out discord.
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who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.
15 Upon {such a man}, suddenly shall his calamity come; in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.
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Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
16 There are six [things] Yahweh hates, and seven [things are] abominations of his soul:
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There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
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haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a devising heart, plans of deception, feet that hurry to run to evil,
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a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who breathes lies and sends out discord between brothers.
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a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
20 My child, keep [the] commandment of your father, and do not disregard [the] instruction of your mother.
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My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart continually; tie them upon your neck.
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Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.
22 {When you walk}, she will lead you, {When you lie down}, she will watch over you, and [when] you awake, she will converse [with] you.
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When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For [like] a lamp [is] a commandment, and instruction [is] light, and the way of life [is the] reproof of discipline,
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For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,
24 [in order] to preserve you from an evil woman, from the smoothness of [the] tongue of {an adulteress}.
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keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart; may she not capture you with her eyelashes.
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Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For [the] price of a woman, a prostitute, [is the] price of a loaf of bread, but the {woman belonging to a man} hunts precious life.
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For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap, and his clothes not burn?
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Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
28 If a man walks upon the hot coals, will his feet not be burned?
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Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
29 Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor, any who touches her shall not go unpunished.
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So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 [People] do not despise a thief when he steals to fill himself when he is hungry.
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People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 But [if] he is found, he will pay sevenfold, every possession of his house he shall give.
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Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 He who commits adultery [with] a woman lacks {sense}, he destroys himself who does it.
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But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.
33 A wound and dishonor he will find, and his disgrace will not be wiped out.
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Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away.
34 For jealousy [is the] fury of a husband, and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.
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For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept {any compensation}, and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.
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He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.