Bible
- 1
- MY SON, if you have become security for your neighbor, if you have given your pledge for a stranger or another,
- 2
- You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth.
- 3
- Do this now [at once and earnestly], my son, and deliver yourself when you have put yourself into the power of your neighbor; go, bestir and humble yourself, and beg your neighbor [to pay his debt and thereby release you].
- 4
- Give not [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids;
- 5
- Deliver yourself, as a roe or gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
- 6
- Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!--[Job 12:7.]
- 7
- Which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
- 8
- Provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest.
- 9
- How long will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? [Prov. 24:33, 34.]
- 10
- Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down and sleep--
- 11
- So will your poverty come like a robber or one who travels [with slowly but surely approaching steps] and your want like an armed man [making you helpless]. [Prov. 10:4; 13:4; 20:4.]
- 12
- A worthless person, a wicked man, is he who goes about with a perverse (contrary, wayward) mouth.
- 13
- He winks with his eyes, he speaks by shuffling or tapping with his feet, he makes signs [to mislead and deceive] and teaches with his fingers.
- 14
- Willful and contrary in his heart, he devises trouble, vexation, and evil continually; he lets loose discord and sows it.
- 15
- Therefore upon him shall the crushing weight of calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
- 16
- These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him:
- 17
- A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, [Ps. 120:2, 3.]
- 18
- A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil,
- 19
- A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren.
- 20
- My son, keep your father's [God-given] commandment and forsake not the law of [God] your mother [taught you]. [Eph. 6:1-3.]
- 21
- Bind them continually upon your heart and tie them about your neck. [Prov. 3:3; 7:3.]
- 22
- When you go, they [the words of your parents' God] shall lead you; when you sleep, they shall keep you; and when you waken, they shall talk with you.
- 23
- For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life, [Ps. 19:8; 119:105.]
- 24
- To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a loose woman.
- 25
- Lust not after her beauty in your heart, neither let her capture you with her eyelids.
- 26
- For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress stalks and snares [as with a hook] the precious life [of a man].
- 27
- Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?
- 28
- Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?
- 29
- So he who cohabits with his neighbor's wife [will be tortured with evil consequences and just retribution]; he who touches her shall not be innocent or go unpunished.
- 30
- Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry;
- 31
- But if he is found out, he must restore seven times [what he stole]; he must give the whole substance of his house [if necessary--to meet his fine].
- 32
- But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks heart and understanding (moral principle and prudence); he who does it is destroying his own life.
- 33
- Wounds and disgrace will he get, and his reproach will not be wiped away.
- 34
- For jealousy makes [the wronged] man furious; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance [upon the detected one].
- 35
- He will not consider any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment]; neither will he be satisfied, though you offer him many gifts and bribes.
Copyright Information:
Amplified Bible Copyright (c) 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631 All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org
