New Living Translation | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
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 or entered into an agreement with a stranger, |
2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— | 2you have been trapped by the words of your lips-- ensnared by 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. | 3Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor's power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. |
4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. | 4Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. |
5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net. | 5Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a fowler's trap. |
6Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! | 6Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise. |
7Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, | 7Without leader, administrator, or ruler, |
8they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. | 8it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest. |
9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? | 9How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? 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 arms to rest, |
11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. | 11and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit. |
12What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, | 12A worthless person, a wicked man goes around speaking dishonestly, |
13signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. | 13winking his eyes, signaling with his feet, and gesturing with his fingers. |
14Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. | 14He always plots evil with perversity in his heart-- he stirs up trouble. |
15But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing. | 15Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly; he will be shattered instantly--beyond recovery. |
16There are six things the LORD hates— no, seven things he detests: | 16The LORD hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to Him: |
17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, | 17arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, |
18a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, | 18a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, |
19a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. | 19a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. |
20My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. | 20My son, keep your father's command, and don't reject your mother's teaching. |
21Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. | 21Always bind them to your heart; 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 here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you. |
23For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. | 23For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life. |
24It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. | 24They will protect you from an evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a stranger. |
25Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. | 25Don't lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate 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 a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread, but an adulteress goes after a precious life. |
27Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? | 27Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? |
28Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? | 28Can a man walk on burning 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 it is with the one who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. |
30Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. | 30People don't despise the thief if he steals to satisfy himself 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. | 31Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much; he must give up all the wealth in his house. |
32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. | 32The one who commits adultery lacks sense; whoever does so destroys himself. |
33He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. | 33He will get a beating and dishonor, and his disgrace will never be removed. |
34For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. | 34For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. |
35He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size. | 35He will not be appeased by anything or be persuaded by lavish 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. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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