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La cauzione data con imprudenza

Figlio mio, se hai garantito per il tuo prossimo,
se hai dato la tua mano per un estraneo,
se ti sei legato con le parole delle tue labbra
e ti sei lasciato prendere dalle parole della tua bocca,
figlio mio, fà così per liberartene:
poiché sei caduto nelle mani del tuo prossimo,
và, gèttati ai suoi piedi, importuna il tuo prossimo;
non concedere sonno ai tuoi occhi
né riposo alle tue palpebre,
lìberatene come la gazzella dal laccio,
come un uccello dalle mani del cacciatore.

Il pigro e la formica

Và dalla formica, o pigro,
guarda le sue abitudini e diventa saggio.
Essa non ha né capo,
né sorvegliante, né padrone,
eppure d'estate si provvede il vitto,
al tempo della mietitura accumula il cibo.
Fino a quando, pigro, te ne starai a dormire?
Quando ti scuoterai dal sonno?
10 Un pò dormire, un pò sonnecchiare,
un pò incrociare le braccia per riposare
11 e intanto giunge a te la miseria, come un vagabondo,
e l'indigenza, come un mendicante.

Lo stolto

12 Il perverso, uomo iniquo,
va con la bocca distorta,
13 ammicca con gli occhi, stropiccia i piedi
e fa cenni con le dita.
14 Cova propositi malvagi nel cuore,
in ogni tempo suscita liti.
15 Per questo improvvisa verrà la sua rovina,
in un attimo crollerà senza rimedio.

I sette abomini

16 Sei cose odia il Signore,
anzi sette gli sono in abominio:
17 occhi alteri, lingua bugiarda,
mani che versano sangue innocente,
18 cuore che trama iniqui progetti,
piedi che corrono rapidi verso il male,
19 falso testimone che diffonde menzogne
e chi provoca litigi tra fratelli.

Ripresa del discorso paterno

20 Figlio mio, osserva il comando di tuo padre,
non disprezzare l'insegnamento di tua madre.
21 Fissali sempre nel tuo cuore,
appendili al collo.
22 Quando cammini ti guideranno,
quando riposi veglieranno su di te,
quando ti desti ti parleranno;
23 poiché il comando è una lampada
e l'insegnamento una luce
e un sentiero di vita le correzioni della disciplina,
24 per preservarti dalla donna altrui,
dalle lusinghe di una straniera.
25 Non desiderare in cuor tuo la sua bellezza;
non lasciarti adescare dai suoi sguardi,
26 perché, se la prostituta cerca un pezzo di pane,
la maritata mira a una vita preziosa.
27 Si può portare il fuoco sul petto
senza bruciarsi le vesti
28 o camminare sulla brace
senza scottarsi i piedi?
29 Così chi si accosta alla donna altrui,
chi la tocca, non resterà impunito.
30 Non si disapprova un ladro, se ruba
per soddisfare l'appetito quando ha fame;
31 eppure, se è preso, dovrà restituire sette volte,
consegnare tutti i beni della sua casa.
32 Ma l'adultero è privo di senno;
solo chi vuole rovinare se stesso agisce così.
33 Incontrerà percosse e disonore,
la sua vergogna non sarà cancellata,
34 poiché la gelosia accende lo sdegno del marito,
che non avrà pietà nel giorno della vendetta;
35 non vorrà accettare alcun compenso,
rifiuterà ogni dono, anche se grande.

Warnings Against Folly

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,
you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
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!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.(E)
Free yourself, like a gazelle(F) from the hand of the hunter,(G)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(H)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;(I)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(J)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(K)

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)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,

Dangerous things

My child, be careful not to promise more than you can really do. You may have promised to pay the debts of a friend or of a stranger. Then what you have promised to do may become a trap that catches you.

Now you need to escape from your problem. Your friend has got power over you. So you must be humble. Go quickly to him and ask him to forgive the debt. Do not let yourself sleep or even stop to rest until you have met with him. You must make yourself free from the trap. Escape quickly, like a bird or a deer that runs away from a hunter.

Learn a lesson from the ants, you lazy person! See how hard they work. They have no leader or ruler, but they get their food during the summer. At the time of harvest they store food to prepare for winter.

But you, you lazy man, you lie in bed too long! Will you never get up to work? 10 You say, ‘I will have a short sleep. I will rest quietly for a while.’ 11 But while you sleep you will suddenly become poor. You will have nothing, as if someone has robbed you.

12 A useless, wicked person is always deceiving people. 13 He sends secret messages with his eyes, his feet or his fingers. 14 He uses evil thoughts to decide how he will hurt people. Wherever he goes, there is trouble.

15 Because of this, trouble will suddenly happen to him. It will knock him down and he will never get up again.

16 There are six things that the Lord hates, or even seven things:

17 Eyes that show how proud a person is.

A mouth that speaks lies.

Hands that kill people who have done nothing wrong.

18 A mind that chooses to do wicked things.

Feet that hurry to do evil things.

19 A person who tells lies in court.

A person who causes trouble in a family.

20 My child, obey your father's commands. Do not forget what your mother has taught you. 21 Keep their teaching in your thoughts. Keep it as near to you as a necklace that you wear.

22 Wherever you go in life, their words will be your guide. They will keep you safe while you sleep. When you wake up, they will teach you.

23 Their commands and their teaching are like a lamp that gives you light. When they warn you that you are doing wrong things, that helps you to live well.

24 They will keep you safe from any bad woman, so that the sweet words of an adulteress will not deceive you. 25 Do not keep thinking how beautiful her body is. Do not let her use her eyes like a trap to catch you.

26 If you sleep with a prostitute, that may cost the price of a meal. But if you sleep with another man's wife, you may pay with your life.

27 You cannot carry fire next to your body and not burn your clothes. 28 You cannot walk over hot pieces of coal and not burn your feet. 29 It is the same when a man has sex with another man's wife. Anyone who does that will receive punishment that hurts him.

30 People may excuse someone who steals food because he is hungry.[a] 31 But if someone catches him, he must pay back seven times what he took. He may lose everything that he has in his house.

32 But a man who sleeps with another man's wife is stupid. He is destroying his own life. 33 He deserves his punishment and shame. He will never stop being ashamed.

34 The woman's husband will be jealous, and he will become very angry. He will want the man to receive full punishment. 35 He will not accept any money or bribe to pay the debt, even if it is a lot of money.

Footnotes

  1. 6:30 To steal something means to take something that does not belong to you.