Proverbs 6
1 Dear friend, if you've gone into hock with your neighbor or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger, 2 If you've impulsively promised the shirt off your back and now find yourself shivering out in the cold, 3 Friend, don't waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess. You're in that man's clutches! Go, put on a long face; act desperate. 4 Don't procrastinate - there's no time to lose. 5Run like a deer from the hunter, fly like a bird from the trapper! A Lesson from the Ant 6 You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. 7 Nobody has to tell it what to do. 8 All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. 9 So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? 10 A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy - do you know what comes next? 11Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest! Always Cooking Up Something Nasty 12 Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths. 13They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross their fingers behind their backs. 14Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty, always stirring up trouble. 15Catastrophe is just around the corner for them, a total smash-up, their lives ruined beyond repair. Seven Things God Hates 16 Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: 17 eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, 18 a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, 19 a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family. Warning on Adultery 20 Good friend, follow your father's good advice; don't wander off from your mother's teachings. 21 Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck. 22 Wherever you walk, they'll guide you; whenever you rest, they'll guard you; when you wake up, they'll tell you what's next. 23 For sound advice is a beacon, good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path. 24 They'll protect you from wanton women, from the seductive talk of some temptress. 25 Don't lustfully fantasize on her beauty, nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes. 26 You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton woman may well eat you alive. 27 Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants? 28Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get blisters? 29 It's the same when you have sex with your neighbor's wife: Touch her and you'll pay for it. No excuses. 30 Hunger is no excuse for a thief to steal; 31 When he's caught he has to pay it back, even if he has to put his whole house in hock. 32 Adultery is a brainless act, soul-destroying, self-destructive; 33 Expect a bloody nose, a black eye, and a reputation ruined for good. 34 For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated husband; wild for revenge, he won't make allowances. 35 Nothing you say or pay will make it all right; neither bribes nor reason will satisfy him.
Proverbs 7
1 Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. 2 Do what I say and you'll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight - guard it! 3 Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart. 4 Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. 5 They'll be with you to fend off the Temptress - that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress. 6 As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, 7Watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense 8 Arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house. 9 It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night. 10 Just then, a woman met him - she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him. 11 Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, 12 Walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town. 13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said, 14 "I've got all the makings for a feast - today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid, 15 So now I've come to find you, hoping to catch sight of your face - and here you are! 16 I've spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed, colorful imported linens. 17 My bed is aromatic with spices and exotic fragrances. 18 Come, let's make love all night, spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking! 19 My husband's not home; he's away on business, and he won't be back for a month." 20 21 Soon she has him eating out of her hand, bewitched by her honeyed speech. 22 Before you know it, he's trotting behind her, like a calf led to the butcher shop, Like a stag lured into ambush 23 and then shot with an arrow, Like a bird flying into a net not knowing that its flying life is over. 24 So, friends, listen to me, take these words of mine most seriously. 25 Don't fool around with a woman like that; don't even stroll through her neighborhood. 26 Countless victims come under her spell; she's the death of many a poor man. 27 She runs a halfway house to hell, fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.
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