מִשְׁלֵי 6

1 בני אם ערבת לרעך תקעת לזר כפיך׃

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 נוקשת באמרי פיך נלכדת באמרי פיך׃

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 עשה זאת אפוא בני והנצל כי באת בכף רעך לך התרפס ורהב רעיך׃

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 אל תתן שנה לעיניך ותנומה לעפעפיך׃

Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].

5 הנצל כצבי מיד וכצפור מיד יקוש׃

Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.

6 לך אל נמלה עצל ראה דרכיה וחכם׃

You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.

7 אשר אין לה קצין שטר ומשל׃

They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],

8 תכין בקיץ לחמה אגרה בקציר מאכלה׃

[but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.

9 עד מתי עצל תשכב מתי תקום משנתך׃

[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 מעט שנות מעט תנומות מעט חבק ידים לשכב׃

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 ובא כמהלך ראשך ומחסרך כאיש מגן׃

and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.

12 אדם בליעל איש און הולך עקשות פה׃

[I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;

13 קרץ בעינו מלל ברגלו מרה באצבעתיו׃

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 תהפכות בלבו חרש רע בכל עת מדנים ישלח׃

They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.

15 על כן פתאם יבוא אידו פתע ישבר ואין מרפא׃

But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.

16 שש הנה שנא יהוה ושבע תועבות נפשו׃

There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:

17 עינים רמות לשון שקר וידים שפכות דם נקי׃

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 לב חרש מחשבות און רגלים ממהרות לרוץ לרעה׃

people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;

19 יפיח כזבים עד שקר ומשלח מדנים בין אחים׃

people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.

20 נצר בני מצות אביך ואל תטש תורת אמך׃

My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.

21 קשרם על לבך תמיד ענדם על גרגרתך׃

Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.

22 בהתהלכך תנחה אתך בשכבך תשמר עליך והקיצות היא תשיחך׃

[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 כי נר מצוה ותורה אור ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר׃

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 לשמרך מאשת רע מחלקת לשון נכריה׃

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 אל תחמד יפיה בלבבך ואל תקחך בעפעפיה׃

[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 כי בעד אשה זונה עד ככר לחם ואשת איש נפש יקרה תצוד׃

[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 היחתה איש אש בחיקו ובגדיו לא תשרפנה׃

Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?

28 אם יהלך איש על הגחלים ורגליו לא תכוינה׃

Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?

29 כן הבא אל אשת רעהו לא ינקה כל הנגע בה׃

[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 לא יבוזו לגנב כי יגנוב למלא נפשו כי ירעב׃

We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.

31 ונמצא ישלם שבעתים את כל הון ביתו יתן׃

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 נאף אשה חסר לב משחית נפשו הוא יעשנה׃

[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 נגע וקלון ימצא וחרפתו לא תמחה׃

[That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.

34 כי קנאה חמת גבר ולא יחמול ביום נקם׃

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 לא ישא פני כל כפר ולא יאבה כי תרבה שחד׃

And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to (appease him/cause him to stop being angry).