New International Version NIV
New Living Translation NLT
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
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My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2 you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.
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if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—
3 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!
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follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
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Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
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Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
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Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
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Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
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they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
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But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
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A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
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then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
12 A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
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What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,
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signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.
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Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
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But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
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There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
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haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
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a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
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a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
20 My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
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My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
21 Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.
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Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
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When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.
23 For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,
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For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
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It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
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Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
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For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
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Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
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Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?
29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
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So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
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Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
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But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.
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But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away.
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He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
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For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
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He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.