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 hast become surety for thy friend, if thou hast struck thy hand 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.
If thou art ensnared through the words of thy mouth, if thou art caught through 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]!
[Then] do this by all means, my son, and deliver thyself, because thou art come into the power of thy friend, Go hasten to him, and urge thy friend.
4 Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
Grant not any sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy 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 roebuck 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; look on her 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],
She, that hath no prince, officer, or ruler,
8 [but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
Provideth in the summer her provision, gathereth in harvest-time her food.
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, O sluggard, wilt thou lie down? 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;
“A little [more] sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands in lying down;”
11 and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
But then will thy poverty come like a rover, and thy want as a man armed with a shield.
12 [I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
A Godless person is a man of injustice, who walketh with a distorted 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].
He blinketh with his eyes, he scrapeth with his feet, he pointeth with his fingers;
14 They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
Perverseness is in his heart, he contriveth evil at all times; he scattereth abroad discord.
15 But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
Therefore shall suddenly come his calamity: unawares shalt he be broken without a remedy.
16 There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
Six things there are which the Lord hateth; and seven are an abomination unto his spirit:
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 tongue of falsehood, 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 contriveth plans of injustice, feet that hasten to run after evil,
19 people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
A false witness that eagerly uttereth lies, and him that scattereth abroad discord among brethren.
20 My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
Keep, O my son, the commandment of thy father, and reject not the teaching of thy mother:
21 Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
Bind them upon thy heart continually, tie them about thy throat.
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 liest down, it shall watch over thee; and when thou art awake, it shall converse 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 the way of life are the admonitions of correction:
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 guard thee against a bad woman, from the flattery of an alien 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).
Covet not her beauty in thy heart, and let her not conquer 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 by means of a harlot [one is brought down] to the last loaf of bread: and an adulterous woman will even hunt for the precious life,
27 Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
Can a man gather up fire in his lap, and shall his clothes not be burnt?
28 Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
Can a man walk along upon hot coals, and shall his feet not be burnt?
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 it is with him that goeth in to his neighbor's wife: no one that toucheth her shall remain 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 steal, to gratify his craving 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].
And if he be found, he must pay sevenfold; all the wealth his house must he give.
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].
But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh sense: he that is the destroyer of his soul, will alone do this.
33 [That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
Plague and disgrace will he meet with; and his reproach will not be blotted out.
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 fury of a husband, and he will not spare on 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 the appearance of any ransom; and he will not be content, though thou give ever so many bribes.
