New Living Translation NLT
Hebrew Names Version HNV
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 have become collateral for your neighbor, If you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;
2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—
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You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
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 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 put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
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Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor 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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Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, Like a bird from the snare of the 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 sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
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Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler,
8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
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Provides her bread in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
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How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of 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 hands to sleep:
11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
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So your poverty will come as a robber, And your scarcity as an armed man.
12 What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,
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A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he who walks with a perverse mouth;
13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.
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Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who motions with his fingers;
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
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In whose heart is perverseness, Who devises evil continually, Who always sows discord.
15 But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
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Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16 There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests:
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There are six things which the LORD hates; Yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,
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Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood;
18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,
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A heart that devises wicked schemes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
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A false witness who utters lies, And he who sows discord among brothers.
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 mitzvah, And don't forsake your mother's teaching.
21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.
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Bind them continually on your heart. Tie 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, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.
23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
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For the mitzvah is a lamp, And the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
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To keep you from the immoral woman, From the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.
25 Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
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Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
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 reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious 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 be burned?
28 Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?
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Or can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
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 he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.
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Men don't despise a thief, If he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:
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 be found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth 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 with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.
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He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not 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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For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
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He won't regard any ransom, Neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.