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 have become surety for thy neighbour, —have struck for a stranger thy hands,
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 hast been snared by the sayings of thy mouth, —thou hast been caught by the sayings 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 then, my son, and deliver thyself, When thou hast come into the hand of thy neighbour, Go, haste thee, and urge thy neighbour;
4 Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
Do not give sleep to thine eyes, or slumber to thine eyelashes;
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 gazelle out of the hand, and as a bird, out of 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, observe 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 harvest, scribe, or ruler,
8 [but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
Prepareth, in the summer, her food, hath collected, in the harvest, her sustenance.
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? how long ere thou rise from 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 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.
So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.
12 [I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
An abandoned man, a man of iniquity, [is he] who—goeth on in perversity of 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].
Winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his foot, pointeth with his fingers;
14 They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
[Hath] perverse things in his heart, deviseth mischief on every occasion, strifes, he sendeth forth.
15 But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
For this cause, suddenly cometh his doom, in a moment, shall he be torn in pieces and there be no mending.
16 There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
These six things, doth Yahweh hate, yea, seven, are the abomination of his soul: —
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;
Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;
18 people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;
A heart contriving iniquitous devices, feet hasting to run into mischief;
19 people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
One that uttereth lies—a false witness, and one sending forth strifes between brethren.
20 My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
Observe thou, my son, the commandment of thy father, and do not decline from the instruction 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, fasten them upon 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 abroad, it shall guide thee, when thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee, when thou wakest, it shall speak to 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, a lamp, is the commandment, and, the instruction, a light, and, the way of life, are the reproofs 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 keep thee from the wicked woman, from the flattery of the tongue of her that is a stranger.
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 covet her beauty, in thy heart, neither let her take thee, by her eyelashes;
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.
Because, for the sake of an impure woman, [a man may be brought] even to a cake of bread, —and, a man’s wife, for a precious soul, may hunt!
27 Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
Can a man snatch up 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 a man walk upon hot coals, and, his feet, not be burned?
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 unto his neighbour’s wife, no man shall be guiltless who toucheth her!
30 We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
Men despise not a thief, when he stealeth, to satisfy his appetite, because he is famished;
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 found, he must pay back sevenfold, All the substance of 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].
He that committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh sense, A destroyer of his own life, is he that doeth it;
33 [That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
Smiting and shame, shall he find, and, his reproach, shall not be wiped 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 rage of a man, nor will he spare, in the day of avenging;
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 look, at any ransom, neither will he consent, though thou increase the bribe.
