| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger, | 1My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger— |
| 2if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth, | 2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— |
| 3then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor. | 3follow 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. |
| 4Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. | 4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. |
| 5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. | 5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net. |
| 6Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. | 6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! |
| 7Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, | 7Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, |
| 8it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest. | 8they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. |
| 9How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? | 9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? |
| 10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, | 10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— |
| 11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit. | 11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. |
| 12A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth, | 12What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, |
| 13winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers. | 13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. |
| 14With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord. | 14Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. |
| 15Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery. | 15But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing. |
| 16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: | 16There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests: |
| 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, | 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, |
| 18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, | 18a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, |
| 19a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers. | 19a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. |
| 20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. | 20My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. |
| 21Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck. | 21Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. |
| 22When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. | 22When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. |
| 23For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life, | 23For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. |
| 24to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. | 24It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. |
| 25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. | 25Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. |
| 26For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. | 26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. |
| 27Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? | 27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? |
| 28Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? | 28Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? |
| 29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. | 29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. |
| 30Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger. | 30Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. |
| 31Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house. | 31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. |
| 32He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. | 32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. |
| 33Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away. | 33He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. |
| 34For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance. | 34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. |
| 35He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts. | 35He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size. |
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