New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
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My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor or shake hands in agreement with a stranger,
2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—
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you will be trapped by your words; you will be caught by your words.
3 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.
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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.
4 Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
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Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.
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Get yourself free like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
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Go to the ant, you lazy person; observe its ways and grow wise.
7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
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The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
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Even so, it gets its food in summer; gathers its provisions at harvest.
9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
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How long, lazy person, will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to lie down—
11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
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and poverty will come on you like a prowler, destitution like a warrior.
12 What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,
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Worthless people and guilty people go around with crooked talk.
13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
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They wink their eyes, gesture with their feet, and point with their fingers.
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
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Their hearts are corrupt and determined to do evil; they create controversies all the time.
15 But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
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Therefore, sudden disaster will come upon them; they will be quickly broken beyond healing.
16 There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests:
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There are six things that the LORD hates, seven things detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,
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snobbish eyes, a lying tongue, hands that spill innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,
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a heart set on wicked plans, feet that run quickly to evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
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a false witness who breathes lies, and one who causes conflicts among relatives.
20 My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
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My son, keep your father's command; don't abandon your mother's instruction.
21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.
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Bind them on your heart for all time; fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.
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When you walk around, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will protect you; when you awake, they will occupy your attention.
23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
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The commandment is a lamp and instruction a light; corrective teaching is the path of life.
24 It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
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They guard you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of the foreign woman.
25 Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
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Don't desire her beauty in secret; don't let her take you in with her eyelashes,
26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
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for a prostitute costs a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts for a man's very life.
27 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?
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Can a man scoop fire into his lap and his clothes not get burned?
28 Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?
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If a man walks on hot coals, don't his feet get burned?
29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
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So is the man who approaches his neighbor's wife; anyone who touches her will be punished.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.
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People don't despise a thief if he steals to fill his starving stomach.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.
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But if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give all the riches of his house.
32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.
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He who commits adultery is senseless. Doing so, he destroys himself.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.
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He is wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be wiped away.
34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
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Jealousy makes a man rage; he'll show no mercy on his day of revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
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He won't accept compensation; he'll refuse even a large bribe.
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.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible