Proverbs 6
1 My son, suppose you have pledged to guarantee your neighbor's debt, or you have shaken hands in agreement 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 then you've trapped yourself by what you promised, you've been caught by what you said.
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 So this is what you have to do. You need to get out of it, because you've put yourself in that person's power. Go to your neighbor in all humility and ask him to release you from the commitment.
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 Don't delay, saying that you'll sleep on it. Don't rest until you've done it.
Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
5 Get out of it like a gazelle escaping from a trap, like a bird from a bird-catcher's net.
Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.
6 Go and observe the ants, you slacker! Learn from what they do and become wise.
You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.
7 They don't have a leader, an officer, or a ruler,
They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],
8 yet they work hard during the summer getting their food, gathering what they need during the harvest.
[but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
9 So how long are you going to lie there, you slacker? When are you going to get up from your 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 You may say, “Please, just a little more sleep, a little longer snooze, a little more folding of the arms to rest”—
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 and poverty will attack you like a robber, destitution like an armed warrior.
and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
12 Rebellious and wicked people go around telling lies,
[I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
13 winking slyly, giving sneaky foot gestures, rudely pointing with their 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 Their warped minds plot evil schemes; they're always causing trouble.
They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
15 As a result, disaster falls suddenly on such people; in just a moment they're destroyed without hope of healing.
But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven things that he absolutely detests:
There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that murder the innocent,
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 a mind that plots evil schemes, feet that hurriedly run to do wrong,
people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;
19 a false witness that speaks lies, those who caused arguments in families.
people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
20 My son, pay attention to your father's instruction, and don't reject your mother's teaching.
My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
21 Keep them always in mind. Tie them around your neck.
Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
22 They will lead you as you walk along; they will watch over you as you sleep; when you wake up they will talk with you.
[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 instruction is a lamp, and the teaching is a light. The correction that comes from discipline is the way to 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 It will protect you from an evil woman and the seductive words of a prostitute.
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 Don't let your mind lust after her beauty, or let her hypnotize you with her fluttering eyelashes.
[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 You can buy a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery with another man's wife can cost you your 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 you put fire in your lap and not burn your clothes?
Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
28 Can you walk on hot coals and not scorch your feet?
Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
29 It's the same for anyone who sleeps with another man's wife. No one who touches her will remain unpunished.
[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 People don't condemn a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he's hungry.
We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
31 But if he's caught, he has to pay back seven times what he stole, even if it means handing over everything he has in 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 Any man who commits adultery with a woman has no sense; he who does so destroys himself.
[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 He will be wounded and dishonored. His disgrace will never be removed.
[That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
34 For jealousy makes a husband furious, and he won't hold back when he takes revenge.
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 refuses any compensation, and won't be paid off, however big the amount.
And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to (appease him/cause him to stop being angry).
