New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor, if you have bound yourself to another,
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My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another,
2 you are snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth.
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You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you.
3 So do this, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into your neighbor's power: go, hurry, and plead with your neighbor.
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Do this, my son, and make yourself free, because you have come into the power of your neighbour; go without waiting, and make a strong request to your neighbour.
4 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;
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Give no sleep to your eyes, or rest to them;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
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Make yourself free, like the roe from the hand of the archer, and the bird from him who puts a net for her.
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.
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Go to the ant, you hater of work; give thought to her ways and be wise:
7 Without having any chief or officer or ruler,
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Having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
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She gets her meat in the summer, storing up food at the time of the grain-cutting.
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep?
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How long will you be sleeping, O hater of work? when will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
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A little sleep, a little rest, a little folding of the hands in sleep:
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.
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Then loss will come on you like an outlaw, and your need like an armed man
12 A scoundrel and a villain goes around with crooked speech,
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A good-for-nothing man is an evil-doer; he goes on his way causing trouble with false words;
13 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet, pointing the fingers,
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Making signs with his eyes, rubbing with his feet, and giving news with his fingers;
14 with perverted mind devising evil, continually sowing discord;
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His mind is ever designing evil: he lets loose violent acts.
15 on such a one calamity will descend suddenly; in a moment, damage beyond repair.
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For this cause his downfall will be sudden; quickly he will be broken, and there will be no help for him.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
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Six things are hated by the Lord; seven things are disgusting to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
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Eyes of pride, a false tongue, hands which take life without cause;
18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil,
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A heart full of evil designs, feet which are quick in running after sin;
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.
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A false witness, breathing out untrue words, and one who lets loose violent acts among brothers.
20 My child, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
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My son, keep the rule of your father, and have in memory the teaching of your mother:
21 Bind them upon your heart always; tie them around your neck.
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Keep them ever folded in your heart, and have them hanging round your neck.
22 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.
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In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
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For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.
24 to preserve you from the wife of another, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
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They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
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Let not your heart's desire go after her fair body; let not her eyes take you prisoner.
26 for a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another stalks a man's very life.
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For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man's wife goes after one's very life.
27 Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one's clothes?
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May a man take fire to his breast without burning his clothing?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet?
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Or may one go on lighted coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 So is he who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
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So it is with him who goes in to his neighbour's wife; he who has anything to do with her will not go free from punishment.
30 Thieves are not despised who steal only to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry.
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Men do not have a low opinion of a thief who takes food when he is in need of it:
31 Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold; they will forfeit all the goods of their house.
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But if he is taken in the act he will have to give back seven times as much, giving up all his property which is in his house.
32 But he who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself.
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He who takes another man's wife is without all sense: he who does it is the cause of destruction to his soul.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
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Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he shows no restraint when he takes revenge.
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For bitter is the wrath of an angry husband; in the day of punishment he will have no mercy.
35 He will accept no compensation, and refuses a bribe no matter how great.
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He will not take any payment; and he will not make peace with you though your money offerings are increased.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.