Financial Entanglements
1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor6:1 Or friend
or entered into an agreement with6:1 Lit or slapped hands for a stranger,6:1 Pr 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13
2you have been snared by the words of your mouth —
trapped by the words from your mouth.
3Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.6:4 Ps 132:4
5Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,6:5 Lit hand
Laziness
Observe its ways and become wise.
7Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8it prepares its provisions in summer;
9How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
11and your poverty will come like a robber,
The Malicious Man
goes around speaking dishonestly,6:12 Pr 4:24
and gesturing with his fingers.
15Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.6:15 2Ch 36:16; Pr 24:22; 29:1; Is 30:13–14; Jr 19:11
What the Lord Hates
16The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to him:
feet eager to run to evil,6:18 Pr 1:16
Warning against Adultery
20My son, keep your father’s command,
21Always bind them to your heart;
22When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,6:23 Ps 119:105
24They will protect you from an evil woman,6:24 LXX reads from a married woman
from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.6:24 Pr 7:5
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.6:25 Sg 4:9
26For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,6:26 Or On account of a prostitute, one is left with only a loaf of bread
but the wife of another man6:26 Lit but a wife of a man goes after a precious life.6:26 Pr 2:18–19; 7:21–23,27; 23:27–28; Ezk 13:18
27Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.6:29 Pr 16:5
30People don’t despise the thief if he steals
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32The one who commits adultery6:32 Lit commits adultery with a woman lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.6:32 Pr 7:22–23
33He will get a beating6:33 Or plague and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish bribes.
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
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