New Living Translation | International Standard Version |
1My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger— | 1My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor, if you have agreed to a deal with a stranger, |
2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— | 2trapped by your own words, and caught by your own words, |
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. | 3then do this, my son, and deliver yourself, because you have come under your neighbor's control. Go, humble yourself! Plead passionately with your neighbor! |
4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. | 4Don't allow yourself to sleep or even to close your eyes. |
5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net. | 5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a hunter's hand, or like a bird from a fowler's hand. |
6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! | 6Go to the ant, you lazy man! Observe its ways and become wise. |
7Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, | 7It has no commander, officer, or ruler, |
8they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. | 8but prepares its provisions in the summer and gathers its food in the harvest. |
9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? | 9How long will you lie down, lazy man? When will you get up from your sleep? |
10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— | 10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, |
11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. | 11and your poverty will come on you like a bandit and your desperation like an armed man. |
12What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, | 12A worthless man, a wicked man, goes around with devious speech, |
13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. | 13winking with his eyes, making signs with his feet, pointing with his fingers, |
14Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. | 14planning evil with a perverse mind, continually stirring up discord. |
15But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing. | 15Therefore, disaster will overtake him suddenly. He will be broken in an instant, and he will never recover. |
16There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests: | 16Here are six things that the LORD hates— seven, in fact, are detestable to him: |
17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, | 17Arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, and hands shedding innocent blood; |
18a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, | 18a heart crafting evil plans, feet running swiftly to wickedness, |
19a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. | 19a false witness snorting lies, and someone sowing quarrels between brothers. |
20My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. | 20Keep your father's commands, my son, and never forsake your mother's rules, |
21Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. | 21by binding them to your heart continuously, fastening them around your neck. |
22When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. | 22During your travels wisdom will lead you; she will watch over you while you rest; and when you are startled from your sleep, she will commune with you. |
23For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. | 23Because the command is a lamp and the Law a light, rebukes that discipline are a way of life— |
24It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. | 24to protect you from the evil woman, from the words of the seductive woman. |
25Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. | 25Do not focus on her beauty in your mind, nor allow her to take you prisoner with her flirting eyes, |
26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. | 26because the price of a whore is a loaf of bread, and an adulterous woman stalks a man's precious life. |
27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? | 27Can a man scoop fire into his bosom without burning his clothes? |
28Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? | 28Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? |
29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. | 29So also is it with someone who has sex with his neighbor's wife; anyone touching her will not remain unpunished. |
30Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. | 30A thief isn't despised if he steals to meet his needs when he is hungry, |
31But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. | 31but when he is discovered, he must restore seven-fold, forfeiting the entire value of his house. |
32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. | 32Whoever commits adultery with a woman is out of his mind; by doing so he corrupts his own soul. |
33He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. | 33He will receive a beating and dishonor, and his shame won't disappear, |
34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. | 34because jealousy incites a strong man's rage, and he will show no mercy when it's time for revenge. |
35He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size. | 35He will not consider any payment, nor will he be willing to accept it, no matter how large the bribe. |
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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