Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 My child, have you promised to be responsible for someone else's debts?
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My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, If you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;
2 Have you been caught by your own words, trapped by your own promises?
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You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
3 Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you.
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Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, Seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.
4 Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest.
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Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.
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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 Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.
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Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
7 They have no leader, chief, or ruler,
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Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler,
8 but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter.
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Provides her bread in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up?
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How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
10 "I'll just take a short nap," he says; "I'll fold my hands and rest a while."
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A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.
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So your poverty will come as a robber, And your scarcity as an armed man.
12 Worthless, wicked people go around telling lies.
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A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he who walks with a perverse mouth;
13 They wink and make gestures to deceive you,
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Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who motions with his fingers;
14 all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere.
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In whose heart is perverseness, Who devises evil continually, Who always sows discord.
15 Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded.
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Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16 There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, a witness who tells one lie after another, and someone who stirs up trouble among friends
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There are six things which Yahweh hates; Yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
20 Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you.
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My son, keep your father's commandment, And don't forsake your mother's teaching.
21 Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart.
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Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.
22 Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day.
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When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.
23 Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live.
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For the commandment is a lamp, And the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives.
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To keep you from the immoral woman, From the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.
25 Don't be tempted by their beauty; don't be trapped by their flirting eyes.
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Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26 A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.
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For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
27 Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes?
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Can a man scoop fire into his lap, And his clothes not be burned?
28 Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet?
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Or can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
29 It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man's wife. Whoever does it will suffer.
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So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
30 People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;
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Men don't despise a thief, If he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:
31 yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more - he must give up everything he has.
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But if he be found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery doesn't have any sense. He is just destroying himself.
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He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
33 He will be dishonored and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced.
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He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.
34 A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits.
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For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.
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He won't regard any ransom, Neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.