Proverbs 6
1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, [if] thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
My son, if someone has borrowed money from a friend or a stranger, and if you have promised that you will pay the money back if that person is unable to pay back the money he borrowed,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
you may be trapped by what you have agreed to do, [because if the one who borrowed the money is not able to pay it back, you will have to pay it]. What you have said that you will do will be like a snare to you.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
So, my son, I will tell you what you should do to escape from your difficulty, so that the moneylender does not get control over your [wealth: ] Humbly go to your friend and plead with him [to cancel the agreement]!
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter], and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest.
[but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
[But], you lazy loafer, how long will you [continue to] sleep [RHQ]? Are you never going to get up from sleeping [and go to work]?
10 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
You sleep a for a little time; [you say, “I will take] just a short nap.” You lie down and fold/lay your hands [across your chest] and rest;
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
[I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
by winking their eyes and moving their feet and making signs with their fingers, they signal [to their friends what they are intending/planning to do].
14 Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
16 These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him:
There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
People who show by their eyes that they are very proud; people who lie [MTY]; people [SYN] who kill others [SYN] who have done nothing wrong;
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;
19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
20 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, [and] tie them about thy neck.
Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
[If you follow our advice, it will be as though] what we have taught you [PRS] will lead you, wherever you go. When you sleep, they will protect you. And when you wake up in the morning, they will teach/instruct you.
23 For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:
These commands and what we teach you [will be like] a lamp to light your path [MET]. When we rebuke you and correct/punish you, we will be showing you the road to having [a good] life.
24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Heeding [PRS] these commands and things that we have taught you will enable you to keep away from immoral women and from [listening to] the enticing words of an adulterous woman.
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
[Even] if such a woman is beautiful and has lovely eyes, do not desire to go with her. Do not let her persuade you to go with her (with her eyes/by the way she looks at you).
26 For by means of a whorish woman [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
[Do not forget that] you can hire a prostitute for only a loaf of bread, but [if you sleep with] another man’s wife, (it may cost you/you may lose) your life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
[No]! And in the same way, anyone who (sleeps with/has sex with) another man’s wife will [suffer for doing that]. [He will certainly] [LIT] be punished severely.
30 [Men] do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
31 But [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
But [if he steals something and then] is caught [by the police], he will have to pay back (seven times as much as/much more than) he stole. He may need to sell everything that is in his house [to get enough money to pay it back].
32 [But] whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
[But] a man who commits adultery with some woman is very foolish, [because] he is destroying his own self/soul [by what he is doing].
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
[That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
34 For jealousy [is] the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
Because that woman’s husband will (be jealous/not want anyone else to sleep with her), he will become furious, and when he gets revenge, he will not act mercifully [toward the man who slept with his wife].
35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to (appease him/cause him to stop being angry).
