Old/New Testament
Practical Warnings
6 My son, if you have put up (A)security for your neighbor,
have (B)given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are (C)snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten,[a] and (D)plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 (E)Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,[b]
(F)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 (G)Go to (H)the ant, O (I)sluggard;
consider her ways, and (J)be wise.
7 (K)Without having any chief,
(L)officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread (M)in summer
and (N)gathers her food in harvest.
9 (O)How long will you lie there, (P)O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (Q)A little sleep, a little slumber,
(R)a little (S)folding of the hands to rest,
11 (T)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
12 (U)A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with (V)crooked speech,
13 (W)winks with his eyes, signals[c] with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with (X)perverted heart (Y)devises evil,
continually (Z)sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
(AA)in a moment he will be broken (AB)beyond healing.
16 There are (AC)six things that the Lord hates,
(AD)seven that are an abomination to him:
17 (AE)haughty eyes, (AF)a lying tongue,
and (AG)hands that shed innocent blood,
18 (AH)a heart that devises wicked plans,
(AI)feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 (AJ)a false witness who (AK)breathes out lies,
and one who (AL)sows discord among brothers.
Warnings Against Adultery
20 (AM)My son, keep your father's commandment,
(AN)and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 (AO)Bind them on your heart always;
(AP)tie them around your neck.
22 (AQ)When you walk, they[d] will lead you;
(AR)when you lie down, they will (AS)watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is (AT)a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the (AU)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,[e]
from the smooth tongue of (AV)the adulteress.[f]
25 (AW)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her (AX)eyelashes;
26 for (AY)the price of a prostitute is only (AZ)a loaf of bread,[g]
but a married woman[h] (BA)hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry (BB)fire next to his (BC)chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one (BD)walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
none who touches her (BE)will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to (BF)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but (BG)if he is caught, he will pay (BH)sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For (BI)jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when (BJ)he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
Warning Against the Adulteress
7 (BK)My son, keep my words
and (BL)treasure up my commandments with you;
2 (BM)keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as (BN)the apple of your eye;
3 (BO)bind them on your fingers;
(BP)write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from (BQ)the forbidden[i] woman,
from (BR)the adulteress[j] with her smooth words.
6 For at (BS)the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among (BT)the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man (BU)lacking sense,
8 passing along the street (BV)near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in (BW)the twilight, in the evening,
at (BX)the time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
(BY)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.[k]
11 She is (BZ)loud and (CA)wayward;
(CB)her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and (CC)at every corner she (CD)lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with (CE)bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to (CF)offer sacrifices,[l]
and today I have (CG)paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with (CH)coverings,
colored linens from (CI)Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with (CJ)myrrh,
aloes, and (CK)cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For (CL)my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with (CM)her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast[m]
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as (CN)a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And (CO)now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are (CP)a mighty throng.
27 Her house is (CQ)the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
2 For I made up my mind (A)not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For (B)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, (C)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For (D)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Now (E)if anyone has caused pain, (F)he has caused it not to me, but (G)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, (H)this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so (I)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might (J)test you and know (K)whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for (L)we are not ignorant of his designs.
Triumph in Christ
12 When (M)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though (N)a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit (O)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But (P)thanks be to God, who in Christ always (Q)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads (R)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among (S)those who are being saved and among (T)those who are perishing, 16 (U)to one a fragrance from death to death, (V)to the other a fragrance from life to life. (W)Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.