Old/New Testament
Economic Entanglements
6 My son, if you have become a cosigner for your neighbor,
if you have shaken hands in pledge with a stranger,
2 if you are trapped by your own words,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and free yourself,
since you fell into your neighbor’s hand:
Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Escape like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
Laziness and Perversity
6 Go to the ant, you slacker—
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler.
8 Yet it prepares its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 and your poverty comes like a bandit
and your need like an armed man.
12 A scoundrel, a wicked man,
is one who goes around with a perverse mouth,
13 winking his eyes, shuffling his feet, pointing his fingers,
14 who continually plots evil
with deceit in his heart stirring up strife.
15 Therefore his disaster will come suddenly
—in an instant he will be broken, with no remedy.
16 Six things Adonai hates,
yes, seven are abominations to Him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet that run to evil,
19 a false witness who spouts lies,
and one who stirs up strife among brothers.
A Father’s Warning Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s mitzvah,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart continually—
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you.
When you lie down, they will watch over you,
and when you wake up, they will speak to you.
23 For the mitzvah is a lamp, Torah a light,
and corrective discipline the way of life,
24 keeping you from the immoral woman,
from a wayward wife’s smooth tongue.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26 For on account of a prostitute one is reduced to a loaf of bread;
a man’s wife preys on your precious life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without burning his clothes?
28 Or can a man walk upon hot coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So is he who goes to another man’s wife.
No one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must repay sevenfold,
giving up all the wealth of his house.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense.
Whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will find disease and disgrace.
His shame will never be wiped away.
34 For jealousy enrages a man
and he will show no mercy in the day of revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation,
he will not consent,
even if your bribe is great.
Treasure Torah’s Teaching
7 My son, keep my words
and treasure my mitzvot within you.
2 Keep my mitzvot and live,
my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your relative.
5 They will keep you from a seducing woman,
from the foreign woman with her seductive speech.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice.
7 I saw among the naïve,
I noticed among the youth,
a young man lacking understanding,
8 crossing the street near her corner,
walking in the direction of her house,
9 in the twilight of the evening,
in the darkest hours of the night.
10 All of a sudden, a woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute and with a cunning heart.
11 She is loud and defiant.
Her feet never stay at home—
12 now in the streets, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.
13 So she grabs him and kisses him
and with a brazen face says to him:
14 “I had to sacrifice fellowship offerings;
today I paid my vow.
15 So I’ve come out to meet you,
to seek your presence eagerly—and I found you!
16 I have spread my couch with tapestry
of dyed Egyptian linens.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love till morning!
Let’s delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home—
he’s gone on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him—
he won’t come home until full moon.”
21 With her persistent pleading she entices him,
with smooth talk she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a stag bounding toward a trap,
23 till an arrow pierces its liver.
Like a bird darting into a snare,
he never considered his own soul!
24 Now then, sons, listen to me,
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray onto her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has brought down,
and numerous are all her slain.
27 Her house is a highway to Sheol,
leading down to the chambers of death.
Forgive the Repentant Sinner
2 So I made up my mind that I would not come to you again causing sorrow. 2 For if I cause you sorrow, then who is there cheering me on but the one I have made sorrowful? 3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice—having confidence in you all that my joy is yours. 4 For out of much distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears—not to make you sorrowful, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.
5 But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but to some extent—not to exaggerate—to all of you. 6 For such a person, this punishment by the majority is enough. 7 So instead you should forgive him and encourage him. Otherwise such a person might be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know your character, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now anyone you forgive, I also forgive. For indeed, what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Messiah, 11 so that we might not be outwitted by satan—for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Revealing Messiah’s Fragrance
12 Now when I arrived in Troas for the Good News of Messiah, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, 13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus my brother. So I said farewell to them, and I set out for Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who in Messiah always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us reveals everywhere the aroma[a] of the knowledge of Himself. 15 For we are the aroma of Messiah to God, among those who are being saved and those who are perishing— 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. Who is competent for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God. Rather, in Messiah we speak in the sight of God with sincerity, as persons sent from God.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.