Old/New Testament
Practical Warnings
6 My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Have struck your [a]hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the [b]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.
4 Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the (D)ant, O (E)sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having (F)no chief,
Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food (G)in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “(H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [c]rest”—
11 (I)Your poverty will come in like [d]a vagabond
And your want like [e]an armed man.
12 A (J)vile person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a (K)perverse mouth,
13 Who (L)winks with his eyes, who [f]signals with his feet,
Who [g]points with his fingers;
14 Who with (M)perversity in his heart continually (N)devises evil,
Who [h](O)spreads contentions.
15 Therefore (P)his disaster will come suddenly;
(Q)Instantly he will be broken and there will be (R)no healing.
16 There are six things which Yahweh hates,
Even seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:
17 (S)Haughty eyes, a (T)lying tongue,
And hands that (U)shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises (V)wicked thoughts,
(W)Feet that hasten to run to evil,
19 A (X)false witness who breathes out lies,
And one who [j](Y)spreads strife among brothers.
Warning Against Adultery
20 (Z)My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not abandon the [k]law of your mother;
21 (AA)Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you (AB)walk about, [l]they will lead you;
When you sleep, [m]they will keep watch over you;
And when you awake, [n]they will speak to you.
23 For (AC)the commandment is a lamp and the [o]law is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
24 To (AD)keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 (AE)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her (AF)eyelids.
26 For (AG)on account of [p]a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And [q]an adulteress (AH)hunts for the precious [r]life.
27 Can a man [s]take fire in his bosom
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who (AI)goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her (AJ)will not [t]go unpunished.
30 [u]Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To (AK)fill [v]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (AL)repay sevenfold;
He must give all the [w]substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is (AM)lacking a heart of wisdom;
He who would (AN)destroy his soul does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For (AO)jealousy [x]enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the (AP)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [y]accept any ransom,
He will not be willing though you give many bribes.
The Adulteress’ Trap
7 My son, (AQ)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (AR)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [z]law (AS)as the [aa]apple of your eye.
3 (AT)Bind them on your fingers;
(AU)Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend;
5 In order to keep you from the strange woman,
From the foreign woman who [ab]flatters with her words.
6 For (AV)at the window of my house
I looked out (AW)through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the (AX)simple,
And discerned among the [ac]sons
A young man (AY)lacking a heart of wisdom,
8 Passing through the street near (AZ)her corner;
And he strides along the way to (BA)her house,
9 In the (BB)twilight, in the evening of that day,
In the [ad]middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
(BC)Dressed as a harlot and [ae]cunning of heart.
11 She is (BD)boisterous and rebellious,
Her (BE)feet do not dwell at home;
12 Stepping in the streets, stepping (BF)in the squares,
And near every corner she (BG)lies in wait.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him
[af]And with a (BH)brazen face she says to him:
14 “The sacrifices of (BI)peace offerings are with me;
Today I (BJ)paid my vows.
15 Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with (BK)coverings,
With colored (BL)linens of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
With (BM)myrrh, aloes, and (BN)cinnamon.
18 Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.
19 For [ag]my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a journey far away;
20 He took a (BO)bag of silver in his hand,
On the day of the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her abundant [ah]persuasions she entices him;
With her (BP)flattering lips she drives him to herself.
22 He suddenly follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or [ai]as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a (BQ)bird hastens to the snare,
And he does not know that it will cost him his [aj]soul.
24 So now, my sons, (BR)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart (BS)go astray into her ways,
Do not wander into her pathways.
26 For many are the slain whom she has cast down,
And (BT)numerous are all those killed by her.
27 The ways to Sheol are in her (BU)house,
Descending to the chambers of death.
2 But I determined this [a]for my own sake, that I (A)would not come to you again in sorrow. 2 For if I (B)cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful? 3 And this is the very thing I (C)wrote you, so that (D)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having (E)confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I (F)wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have abundantly for you.
Forgive and Love the Sinner
5 But (G)if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—[b]in order not to say too much—to all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a one is (H)this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, 7 so that on the contrary you should rather (I)graciously forgive and comfort him, lest such a one be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I encourage you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end also (J)I wrote, so that I might (K)know your proven character, whether you are (L)obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you graciously forgive anything, I graciously forgive also. For indeed what I have graciously forgiven, if I have graciously forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes (M)in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by (N)Satan, for (O)we are not ignorant of his schemes.
12 Now when I came to (P)Troas for the (Q)gospel of Christ and when a (R)door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I (S)had no rest for my spirit, not finding (T)Titus my brother. But (U)saying farewell to them, I went on to (V)Macedonia.
14 (W)But thanks be to God, who always (X)leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and manifests through us the (Y)aroma of the (Z)knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a (AA)fragrance of Christ to God among (AB)those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 (AC)to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is (AD)sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not like many, [c](AE)peddling the word of God, but (AF)as from sincerity, but as from God, (AG)in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
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