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Proverbs 6-7
Contemporary English Version
Proverbs 6-7
Contemporary English Version
Don't Be Foolish
6 (A) My child, suppose you agree
to pay the debt of someone,
who cannot repay a loan.
2 Then you are trapped
by your own words,
3 and you are now in the power
of someone else.
Here is what you should do:
Go and beg for permission
to call off the agreement.
4 Do this before you fall asleep
or even get sleepy.
5 Save yourself, just as a deer
or a bird tries to escape
from a hunter.
6 You lazy people can learn
by watching an anthill.
7 Ants don't have leaders,
8 but they store up food
during harvest season.
9 How long will you lie there
doing nothing at all?
When are you going to get up
and stop sleeping?
10 (B) Sleep a little. Doze a little.
Fold your hands
and twiddle your thumbs.
11 Suddenly, everything is gone,
as though it had been taken
by an armed robber.
12 Worthless liars go around
13 (C) winking and giving signals
to deceive others.
14 They are always thinking up
something cruel and evil,
and they stir up trouble.
15 But they will be struck
by sudden disaster
and left without a hope.
16 There are six or seven
kinds of people
the Lord doesn't like:
17 Those who are too proud
or tell lies or murder,
18 those who make evil plans
or are quick to do wrong,
19 those who tell lies in court
or stir up trouble
in a family.
20 Obey the teaching
of your parents—
21 always keep it in mind
and never forget it.
22 Their teaching will guide you
when you walk,
protect you when you sleep,
and talk to you
when you are awake.
23 The Law of the Lord is a lamp,
and its teachings
shine brightly.
Correction and self-control
will lead you through life.
24 They will protect you
from the flattering words
of someone else's wife.[a]
25 Don't let yourself be attracted
by the charm and lovely eyes
of someone like that.
26 A woman who sells her love
can be bought for as little
as the price of a meal.
But making love
to another man's wife
will cost you everything.
27 If you carry burning coals,
you burn your clothes;
28 if you step on hot coals,
you burn your feet.
29 And if you go to bed
with another man's wife,
you pay the price.
30 We don't put up with thieves,
not even[b] with one who steals
for something to eat.
31 And thieves who get caught
must pay back
seven times what was stolen
and lose everything.
32 But if you go to bed
with another man's wife,
you will destroy yourself
by your own stupidity.
33 You will be beaten
and forever disgraced,
34 because a jealous husband
can be furious and merciless
when he takes revenge.
35 He won't let you pay him off,
no matter what you offer.
The Foolishness of Unfaithfulness
7 My son, pay close attention
and don't forget
what I tell you to do.
2 Obey me, and you will live!
Let my instructions be
your greatest treasure.
3 Keep them at your fingertips
and write them
in your mind.
4 Let wisdom be your sister
and make common sense
your closest friend.
5 They will protect you
from the flattering words
of someone else's wife.
6 From the window of my house,
I once happened to see
7 some foolish young men.
8 It was late in the evening,
sometime after dark.
9 One of these young men
turned the corner
and was walking by the house
of an unfaithful wife.
10 She was dressed fancy
like a woman of the street
with only one thing in mind.
11 She was one of those women
who are loud and restless
and never stay at home,
12 who walk street after street,
waiting to trap a man.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him,
and with no sense of shame,
she said:
14 “I had to offer a sacrifice,
and there is enough meat
left over for a feast.
15 So I came looking for you,
and here you are!
16 The sheets on my bed
are bright-colored cloth
from Egypt.
17 And I have covered it
with perfume made of myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 “Let's go there
and make love all night.
19 My husband is traveling,
and he's far away.
20 He took a lot of money along,
and he won't be back home
before the middle
of the month.”
21 And so, she tricked him
with all of her sweet talk
and her flattery.
22 At once he followed her
like an ox on the way
to be slaughtered,
or like a fool on the way
to be punished[c]
23 and killed with arrows.
He was no more than a bird
rushing into a trap,
without knowing
it would cost him his life.
24 My son, pay close attention
to what I have said.
25 Don't even think about
that kind of woman
or let yourself be misled
by someone like her.
26 Such a woman has caused
the downfall and destruction
of a lot of men.
27 Her house is a one-way street
leading straight down
to the world of the dead.
Proverbs 6-7
New International Version
Proverbs 6-7
New International Version
Warnings Against Folly
6 My son,(A) if you have put up security(B) for your neighbor,(C)
if you have shaken hands in pledge(D) for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a]
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.(E)
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle(F) from the hand of the hunter,(G)
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(H)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;(I)
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer(J)
and gathers its food at harvest.(K)
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(L)
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest(M)—
11 and poverty(N) will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A troublemaker and a villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye,(O)
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,(P)
14 who plots evil(Q) with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up conflict.(R)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(S)
he will suddenly(T) be destroyed—without remedy.(U)
16 There are six things the Lord hates,(V)
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,(W)
a lying tongue,(X)
hands that shed innocent blood,(Y)
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,(Z)
19 a false witness(AA) who pours out lies(AB)
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.(AC)
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son,(AD) keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(AE)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.(AF)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,(AG)
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,(AH)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(AI)
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(AJ)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(AK) with another man’s wife;(AL)
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(AM)
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(AN) has no sense;(AO)
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never(AP) be wiped away.
34 For jealousy(AQ) arouses a husband’s fury,(AR)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.(AS)
Warning Against the Adulterous Woman
7 My son,(AT) keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;(AU)
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.(AV)
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.(AW)
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.(AX)
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight,(AY) as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly(AZ) and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)(BA)
13 She took hold of him(BB) and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:(BC)
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering(BD) at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed(BE)
with myrrh,(BF) aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!(BG)
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.(BH)
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[b] stepping into a noose[c](BI)
23 till an arrow pierces(BJ) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.(BK)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,
- Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
- Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
2 Corinthians 2
Contemporary English Version
2 Corinthians 2
Contemporary English Version
2 I have decided not to make my next visit with you so painful. 2 If I make you feel bad, who would be left to cheer me up, except the people I had made to feel bad? 3 The reason I want to be happy is to make you happy. I wrote as I did because I didn't want to visit you and be made to feel bad, when you should make me feel happy. 4 At the time I wrote, I was suffering terribly. My eyes were full of tears, and my heart was broken. But I didn't want to make you feel bad. I only wanted to let you know how much I cared for you.
Forgiveness
5 I don't want to be hard on you. But if one of you has made someone feel bad, I am not really the one who has been made to feel bad. Some of you are the ones. 6 Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and this is punishment enough for what was done.
7 When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair. 8 You should make them sure of your love for them.
9 I also wrote because I wanted to test you and find out if you would follow my instructions. 10 I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven. 11 I have done this to keep Satan from getting the better of us. We all know what goes on in his mind.
12 (A) When I went to Troas to preach the good news about Christ, I found that the Lord had already prepared the way. 13 But I was worried when I didn't find my friend Titus there. So I left the other followers and went on to Macedonia.
14 I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume. 15-16 In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death.
No one really has what it takes to do this work. 17 A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God's message. But we are God's sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness.
2 Corinthians 2
New International Version
2 Corinthians 2
New International Version
2 1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.(A) 2 For if I grieve you,(B) who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I wrote as I did,(C) so that when I came I would not be distressed(D) by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence(E) in all of you, that you would all share my joy. 4 For I wrote you(F) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 If anyone has caused grief,(G) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment(H) inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,(I) so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote you(J) was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.(K) 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan(L) might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.(M)
Ministers of the New Covenant
12 Now when I went to Troas(N) to preach the gospel of Christ(O) and found that the Lord had opened a door(P) for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind,(Q) because I did not find my brother Titus(R) there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.(S)
14 But thanks be to God,(T) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma(U) of the knowledge(V) of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma(W) of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.(X) 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death;(Y) to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?(Z) 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.(AA) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,(AB) as those sent from God.(AC)
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