Proverbs 6
1 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,
My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor, If thou hast stricken thy hands for a stranger;
2 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.
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 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]!
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor: Go, humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;
4 Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
5 Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter], And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:
7 They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],
Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler,
8 [but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
Provideth her bread in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 [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]?
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 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;
[Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man.
12 [I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;
13 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].
That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet, That maketh signs with his fingers;
14 They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
In whose heart is perverseness, Who deviseth evil continually, Who soweth discord.
15 But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
16 There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:
17 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;
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood;
18 people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;
A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
A false witness that uttereth lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.
20 My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck.
22 [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.
When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 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.
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 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.
To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner’s tongue.
25 [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).
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 [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.
For on account of a harlot [a man is brought] to a piece of bread; And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
27 Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
28 Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
29 [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.
So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished.
30 We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
Men do not despise a thief, if he steal To satisfy himself when he is hungry:
31 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].
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; He shall give all the substance of his house.
32 [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].
He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding: He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.
33 [That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
Wounds and dishonor shall he get; And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 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].
For jealousy is the rage of a man; And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to (appease him/cause him to stop being angry).
He will not regard any ransom; Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
