Old/New Testament
Parental Counsel
6 My son, if you have become (A)surety for your neighbor,
Have [a]given a 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 importune 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 a [d]vagabond
And your need like [e]an armed man.
12 A (J)worthless 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 strife.
15 Therefore (P)his calamity will come suddenly;
(Q)Instantly he will be broken and there will be (R)no healing.
16 There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, 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 plans,
(W)Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A (X)false witness who utters lies,
And one who [j](Y)spreads strife among brothers.
20 (Z)My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the [k]teaching 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 guide you;
When you sleep, [m]they will watch over you;
And when you awake, [n]they will talk to you.
23 For (AC)the commandment is a lamp and the [o]teaching 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 [p]adulteress.
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 a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,
And [q]an adulteress (AH)hunts for the precious life.
27 Can a man [r]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 [s]go unpunished.
30 [t]Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To (AK)satisfy [u]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (AL)repay sevenfold;
He must give all the [v]substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is (AM)lacking [w]sense;
He who would (AN)destroy [x]himself does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For (AO)jealousy [y]enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the (AP)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [z]accept any ransom,
Nor will he be [aa]satisfied though you give many [ab]gifts.
The Wiles of the Harlot
7 My son, (AQ)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (AR)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [ac]teaching (AS)as the [ad]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 That they may keep you from an [ae]adulteress,
From the foreigner who [af]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 [ag](AX)naive,
And discerned among the [ah]youths
A young man (AY)lacking [ai]sense,
8 Passing through the street near (AZ)her corner;
And he [aj]takes the way to (BA)her house,
9 In the (BB)twilight, in the [ak]evening,
In the [al]middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
(BC)Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 She is (BD)boisterous and rebellious,
Her (BE)feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now (BF)in the squares,
And (BG)lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him
[am]And with a (BH)brazen face she says to him:
14 “[an]I was due to offer (BI)peace offerings;
Today I have (BJ)paid my vows.
15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence 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, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with caresses.
19 “For [ao]my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a (BO)bag of money [ap]with him,
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her [aq](BP)flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as [ar]one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a (BQ)bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, (BR)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart (BS)turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the [as]victims she has cast down,
And (BT)numerous are all her slain.
27 Her (BU)house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
Reaffirm Your Love
2 But I determined this [a]for my own sake, that I (A)would not come to you in sorrow again. 2 For if I (B)cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful? 3 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 especially for you.
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)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end also (J)I wrote, so that I might [c](K)put you to the test, whether you are (L)obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have 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)taking my leave of them, I went on to (V)Macedonia.
14 (W)But thanks be to God, who always (X)leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the (Y)sweet 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)adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, [d](AE)peddling the word of God, but (AF)as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ (AG)in the sight of God.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.