Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor or shake hands in agreement with a stranger,
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My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor, if you have bound yourself to another,
2 you will be trapped by your words; you will be caught by your words.
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you are snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth.
3 Do this, my son, to get out of it, for you have come under the control of your neighbor. So go, humble yourself, and pester your neighbor.
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So do this, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into your neighbor's power: go, hurry, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
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Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;
5 Get yourself free like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
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save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you lazy person; observe its ways and grow wise.
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Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.
7 The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
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Without having any chief or officer or ruler,
8 Even so, it gets its food in summer; gathers its provisions at harvest.
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it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
9 How long, lazy person, will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep?
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How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to lie down—
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come on you like a prowler, destitution like a warrior.
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and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.
12 Worthless people and guilty people go around with crooked talk.
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A scoundrel and a villain goes around with crooked speech,
13 They wink their eyes, gesture with their feet, and point with their fingers.
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winking the eyes, shuffling the feet, pointing the fingers,
14 Their hearts are corrupt and determined to do evil; they create controversies all the time.
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with perverted mind devising evil, continually sowing discord;
15 Therefore, sudden disaster will come upon them; they will be quickly broken beyond healing.
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on such a one calamity will descend suddenly; in a moment, damage beyond repair.
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven things detestable to him:
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There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 snobbish eyes, a lying tongue, hands that spill innocent blood,
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haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart set on wicked plans, feet that run quickly to evil,
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a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes lies, and one who causes conflicts among relatives.
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a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.
20 My son, keep your father's command; don't abandon your mother's instruction.
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My child, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart for all time; fasten them around your neck.
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Bind them upon your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk around, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will protect you; when you awake, they will occupy your attention.
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When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 The commandment is a lamp and instruction a light; corrective teaching is the path of life.
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For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 They guard you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of the foreign woman.
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to preserve you from the wife of another, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Don't desire her beauty in secret; don't let her take you in with her eyelashes,
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Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for a prostitute costs a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts for a man's very life.
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for a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another stalks a man's very life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap and his clothes not get burned?
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Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one's clothes?
28 If a man walks on hot coals, don't his feet get burned?
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Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet?
29 So is the man who approaches his neighbor's wife; anyone who touches her will be punished.
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So is he who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People don't despise a thief if he steals to fill his starving stomach.
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Thieves are not despised who steal only to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give all the riches of his house.
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Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold; they will forfeit all the goods of their house.
32 He who commits adultery is senseless. Doing so, he destroys himself.
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But he who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself.
33 He is wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be wiped away.
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He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 Jealousy makes a man rage; he'll show no mercy on his day of revenge.
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For jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he shows no restraint when he takes revenge.
35 He won't accept compensation; he'll refuse even a large bribe.
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He will accept no compensation, and refuses a bribe no matter how great.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.