New Living Translation

English 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 have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger,

2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—

2if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,

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 save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.

4Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;

5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

5save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

6Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

7Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,

7Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,

8they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

8she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?

9How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise 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 poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

12What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,

12A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,

13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

13winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,

14Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.

14with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;

15But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

16There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests:

16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,

17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,

18a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,

19a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

19a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

20My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

21Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.

21Bind them on your heart always; tie 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.

22When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

23For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

24to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

25Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;

26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

26for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?

27Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?

28Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

28Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.

30Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.

30People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite 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 if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.

32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.

32He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.

33He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.

33He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

34For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

35He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

35He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

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.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.