Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha LXX
New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha NRSA
1 son, if thou become surety for thy friend, thou shalt deliver thine hand to an enemy.
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My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor, if you have bound yourself to another,
2 For a man's own lips become a strong snare to him, and he is caught with the lips of his own mouth.
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you are snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth.
3 son, do what I command thee, and deliver thyself; for on thy friend's account thou art come into the power of evil : faint not, but stir up even thy friend for whom thou art become surety.
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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 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber with thine eyelids;
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Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;
5 that thou mayest deliver thyself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare.
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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, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
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Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.
7 For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master,
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Without having any chief or officer or ruler,
8 he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labours kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom.
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it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
9 How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard? and when wilt thou awake out of sleep?
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How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep?
10 Thou sleepest a little, and thou restest a little, and thou slumberest a short , and thou foldest thine arms over thy breast a little.
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 Then poverty comes upon thee as an evil traveller, and want as a swift courier: but if thou be diligent, thine harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier.
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and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.
12 A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good.
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A scoundrel and a villain goes around with crooked speech,
13 And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.
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winking the eyes, shuffling the feet, pointing the fingers,
14 perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city.
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with perverted mind devising evil, continually sowing discord;
15 Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin.
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on such a one calamity will descend suddenly; in a moment, damage beyond repair.
16 For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.
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There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just;
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haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, — .
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a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil,
19 An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren.
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a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.
20 son, keep the laws of thy father, and reject not the ordinances of thy mother:
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My child, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
21 but bind them upon thy soul continually, and hang them as a chain about thy neck.
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Bind them upon your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 Whensoever thou walkest, lead this along and let it be with thee; that it may talk with thee when thou wakest.
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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 For the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light; a way of life; reproof also and correction:
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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 to keep thee continually from a married woman, and from the calumny of a strange tongue.
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to preserve you from the wife of another, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Let not the desire of beauty overcome thee, neither be thou caught by thine eyes, neither be captivated with her eyelids.
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Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 For the value of a harlot is as much as of one loaf; and a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.
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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 Shall any one bind fire in his bosom, and not burn his garments?
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Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one's clothes?
28 or will any one walk on coals of fire, and not burn his feet?
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Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet?
29 So is he that goes in to a married woman; he shall not be held guiltless, neither any one that touches her.
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So is he who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 It is not to be wondered at if one should be taken stealing, for he steals that when hungry he may satisfy his soul:
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Thieves are not despised who steal only to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
31 but if he should be taken, he shall repay sevenfold, and shall deliver himself by giving all his goods.
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Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold; they will forfeit all the goods of their house.
32 But the adulterer through want of sense procures destruction to his soul.
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But he who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself.
33 He endures both pain and disgrace, and his reproach shall never be wiped off.
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He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For the soul of her husband is full of jealousy: he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
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For jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he shows no restraint when he takes revenge.
35 He will not forego enmity for any ransom: neither will he be reconciled for many gifts.
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He will accept no compensation, and refuses a bribe no matter how great.
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.
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.