Old/New Testament
Dangers of Being Foolish
6 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else.
Be careful about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say.
You might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, you might do this and be under somebody’s control.
Then here is how to get free.
Go to your neighbor and don’t be proud.
Beg him to free you from your promise.
4 Don’t go to sleep.
Don’t even rest your eyes.
5 But free yourself like a deer running from a hunter.
Free yourself like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6 Go watch the ants, you lazy person.
Watch what they do and be wise.
7 Ants have no commander.
They have no leader or ruler.
8 But they store up food in the summer.
They gather their supplies at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy person?
When will you get up from sleeping?
10 You sleep a little; you take a nap.
You fold your hands and rest.
11 So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed.
You will have as little as if you had been held up.
12 Some people are wicked and no good.
They go around telling lies.
13 They wink with their eyes and signal with their feet.
They make signs with their fingers.
14 They make evil plans in their hearts.
They are always causing trouble.
15 So trouble will strike them in an instant.
Suddenly they will be hurt beyond cure.
16 There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:
17 a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
19 a witness who tells lies
and a man who causes trouble among brothers.
Warning About Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s commands.
Don’t forget your mother’s teaching.
21 Remember their words forever.
Let it be as if they were tied around your neck.
22 They will guide you when you walk.
They will guard you while you sleep.
They will speak to you when you are awake.
23 Their commands are like a lamp.
Their teaching is like a light.
And the correction that comes from them
helps you have life.
24 Such teaching will keep you from sinful women
and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.
25 Don’t want her because she is beautiful.
Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26 A prostitute may leave you with only a loaf of bread.
And a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest
without burning your clothes.
28 And you cannot walk on hot coals
without burning your feet.
29 The same thing happens if you commit adultery with another man’s wife.
Anyone who does so will be punished.
30 People do not hate a thief
when he steals because he is hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole.
It may cost him everything he owns.
32 A man who takes part in adultery doesn’t have any sense.
He will destroy himself.
33 He will be beaten up and disgraced.
And his shame will never go away.
34 Jealousy makes a husband very angry.
He will have no mercy when he gets even.
35 He will accept no payment for the wrong.
He will take no money, no matter how much it is.
The Woman of Adultery
7 My son, remember what I say.
Treasure my commands.
2 Obey my commands, and you will live.
Protect my teachings as you would your own eyes.
3 Remind yourself of them.
Write them down in your mind as if on a tablet.
4 Be good to wisdom as if she were your sister.
Make understanding your closest friend.
5 Wisdom and understanding will keep you away from adultery.
They will keep you away from the unfaithful wife and her pleasing words.
6 I once was standing at the window of my house.
I looked out through the shutters.
7 I saw some foolish, young men.
I noticed one of them who had no wisdom.
8 He was walking down the street near the corner.
He was on the road leading to her house.
9 It was the twilight of the evening.
The darkness of the night was just beginning.
10 Then the woman approached him.
She was dressed like a prostitute
and was planning to trick him.
11 She was a loud and stubborn woman.
She never stayed at home.
12 She was always out in the streets or in the city squares.
She was always waiting around on the street corners.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him.
Without shame she said to him,
14 “I made my fellowship offering and have the meat at home.
I have kept my special promises.
15 So I have come out to meet you.
I have been looking for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored sheets from Egypt.
17 I have made my bed smell sweet
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s make love until morning.
Let’s enjoy each other’s love!
19 My husband is not home.
He has gone on a long trip.
20 He took a lot of money with him.
And he won’t be home for weeks.”
21 By her clever words she made him give in.
By her pleasing words she led him into doing wrong.
22 All at once he followed her.
He was like an ox being led to the butcher.
He was like a deer caught in a trap.
23 But quickly an arrow shot through his liver.
He was like a bird caught in a trap.
He didn’t know what he did would kill him.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say.
25 Don’t let yourself be tricked by the woman who is guilty of adultery.
Don’t join her in her evil actions.
26 She has ruined many good men.
Many have died because of her.
27 Going to her house is like taking the road to death.
That road leads down to where the dead are.
2 So I decided that my next visit to you would not be another visit to make you sad. 2 If I make you sad, who will make me happy? Only you can make me happy—you whom I made sad. 3 I wrote you a letter for this reason: that when I came to you I would not be made sad by the people who should make me happy. I felt sure of all of you. I felt sure that you would share my joy. 4 When I wrote to you before, I was very troubled and unhappy in my heart. I wrote with many tears. I did not write to make you sad, but to let you know how much I love you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Someone there among you has caused sadness. He caused this not to me, but to all of you—I mean he caused sadness to all in some way. (I do not want to make it sound worse than it really is.) 6 The punishment that most of you gave him is enough for him. 7 But now you should forgive him and comfort him. This will keep him from having too much sadness and giving up completely. 8 So I beg you to show him that you love him. 9 This is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you and see if you obey in everything. 10 If you forgive someone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if I had anything to forgive—I forgave it for you, and Christ was with me. 11 I did this so that Satan would not win anything from us. We know very well what Satan’s plans are.
Paul’s Concern in Troas
12 I went to Troas to preach the Good News of Christ. The Lord gave me a good opportunity there. 13 But I had no peace because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye and went to Macedonia.
Victory Through Christ
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. 15 Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. 16 To those who are lost, we are the smell of death that brings death. But to those who are being saved, we are the smell of life that brings life. So who is able to do this work? 17 We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God. We speak as men sent from God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.