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 you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with 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.
if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your 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]!
then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
4 Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6 You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
7 They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],
Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
8 [but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at 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 will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your 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;
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
12 [I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
A worthless person, a wicked man, walks 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].
winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
14 They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
15 But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
16 There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to 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, 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 devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
19 people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
20 My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your 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 you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
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 this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to 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 you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
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).
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
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 the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
27 Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
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 is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
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].
Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth 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 who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
33 [That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never 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 enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy 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 be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.
