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Don't Be Foolish

(A) My child, suppose you agree
to pay the debt of someone,
    who cannot repay a loan.
Then you are trapped
    by your own words,
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.
Do this before you fall asleep
    or even get sleepy.
Save yourself, just as a deer
or a bird tries to escape
    from a hunter.

You lazy people can learn
    by watching an anthill.
Ants don't have leaders,
but they store up food
    during harvest season.
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

My son, pay close attention
and don't forget
    what I tell you to do.
Obey me, and you will live!
Let my instructions be
    your greatest treasure.
Keep them at your fingertips
and write them
    in your mind.
Let wisdom be your sister
and make common sense
    your closest friend.
They will protect you
from the flattering words
    of someone else's wife.

From the window of my house,
I once happened to see
    some foolish young men.
It was late in the evening,
    sometime after dark.
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.

Footnotes

  1. 6.24 someone else's wife: Or “an evil woman.”
  2. 6.30 not even: Or “except.”
  3. 7.22 a fool … punished: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

I have decided not to make my next visit with you so painful. If I make you feel bad, who would be left to cheer me up, except the people I had made to feel bad? 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. 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

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. Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and this is punishment enough for what was done.

When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair. You should make them sure of your love for them.

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.

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