Aa
Financial Entanglements
1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor Or friend
or entered into an agreement with Lit or shaken hands for or with a stranger, The Hb word for stranger can refer to a foreigner, an Israelite outside one’s family, or simply to another person. Pr 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13
2you have been trapped by the words of your lips Lit mouth
ensnared by the words of 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. Ps 132:4
5Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, Lit hand
like a bird from a fowler’s trap. Lit hand Ps 91:3; 124:7
Laziness
6Go to the ant, Pr 30:24-25 you slacker! Pr 10:26; 13:4; 20:4; 26:16
Observe its ways and become wise.
7Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest. Pr 10:5; 30:25
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, Pr 26:14; Ec 4:5
11and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit. Pr 20:13; 24:33-34; Ec 4:5
The Malicious Man
12A worthless person, 1Sm 25:25; Pr 16:27; 19:28 a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly, Pr 4:24
13winking Ps 35:19; Pr 10:10; 16:30 his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
14He always plots evil Pr 3:29; Mc 2:1 with perversity in his heart —
he stirs up trouble. Pr 6:19; 16:27-28; 28:25
15Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly — beyond recovery. 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:
17arrogant eyes, Ps 18:27; Pr 21:4; 30:13 a lying tongue, Ps 31:18; 120:2; Pr 12:22; 17:7
hands that shed innocent blood, Dt 19:10; Pr 1:16; Is 1:15; 59:7
18a heart that plots wicked schemes, Gn 6:5
feet eager to run to evil, Pr 1:16
19a lying witness who gives false testimony, Ex 20:16; Ps 27:12; Pr 12:17; 14:5,25
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. Pr 6:14; 16:27-28; 28:25
Warning against Adultery
20My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching. Pr 1:8; 31:1
21Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck. Pr 1:9; 3:3; 7:3
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, Ps 119:105
and corrective discipline is the way to life. Pr 3:1-2; 4:4; 7:2; 19:16
24They will protect you from an evil woman, LXX reads from a married woman
from the flattering Lit smooth tongue of a stranger. Pr 7:5
25Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty Mt 5:28
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes. Sg 4:9
26For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, Or On account of a prostitute, one is left with only a loaf of bread
but an adulteress Lit but a wife of a man goes after a precious life. Pr 2:18-19; 7:21-23,27; 23:27-28; Ezk 13:18
27Can a man embrace fire Lit man take fire to his bosom
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. Pr 16:5
30People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry. Jr 49:9; Ob 5
31Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much; Ex 22:1-4; Ps 79:12
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32The one who commits adultery Lit commits adultery with a woman lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself. Pr 7:22-23
33He will get a beating Or plague and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
34For jealousy enrages a husband, Pr 27:4; Sg 8:6
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.