Old/New Testament

A Father Talks to His Son

6 My son, if you have put yourself as a trust for what your neighbor owes to another, or if you have made a promise for a stranger, ² you have been trapped with the words of your lips. You have been caught with the words of your mouth. ³ Do this now, my son, and get yourself out of trouble, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go without pride and beg your neighbor to let you go. ⁴ Do not let your eyes sleep. Do not let your eyes close. ⁵ Take yourself away like a deer from the man who kills animals, and like a bird from the hand of the man who catches birds.

⁶ Go to the ant, O lazy person. Watch and think about her ways, and be wise. ⁷ She has no leader, head or ruler, ⁸ but she gets her food ready in the summer, and gathers her food at the right time. ⁹ How long will you lie down, O lazy person? When will you rise up from your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little rest, a little folding of the hands to rest, ¹¹ and being poor will come upon you like a robber, and your need like a man ready to fight.

¹² A person of no worth, a sinful man, is he who goes about telling lies. ¹³ He winks with his eyes, makes signs with his feet, and makes certain moves with his fingers. ¹⁴ He always plans to do sinful things because of his sinful heart. He causes arguing among people. ¹⁵ So trouble will come upon him all at once. Right then he will be broken, and there will be no healing.

¹⁶ There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven that are hated by Him: ¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that kill those who are without guilt, ¹⁸ a heart that makes sinful plans, feet that run fast to sin, ¹⁹ a person who tells lies about someone else, and one who starts fights among brothers.

²⁰ My son, keep the teaching of your father, and do not turn away from the teaching of your mother. ²¹ Hold them always to your heart. Tie them around your neck. ²² They will lead you when you walk. They will watch over you when you sleep, and they will talk with you when you wake up. ²³ For the word is a lamp. The teaching is a light, and strong words that punish are the way of life. ²⁴ They keep you from the sinful woman, from the smooth tongue of a sinful woman. ²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart. Do not let her catch you with her eyes. ²⁶ For because of a woman who sells the use of her body, one is brought down to a loaf of bread. A sinful woman hunts to take a man’s very life. ²⁷ Can a man carry fire in his arms, and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals, and his feet not be burned? ²⁹ So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will be punished. ³⁰ Men do not hate a robber who steals food for himself when he is hungry. ³¹ But if he is caught, he must pay seven times what he took. He must give up all the things in his house. ³² He who does sex sins with a woman does not think well. He who does it is destroying himself. ³³ He will be hurt and ashamed, and his shame will not be taken away. ³⁴ Jealousy makes a man angry. He will show no pity for the wrong that was done to him. ³⁵ He will not take pay, and he will not be happy even if you give him many gifts.

The Talk of a Sinful Woman

7 My son, keep my words, and hold together my teachings within you. ² Keep my words and live. Keep my teachings as you would your own eye. ³ Tie them upon your fingers. Write them upon your heart. ⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister.” Call understanding your special friend. ⁵ They will keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger with her smooth words.

⁶ For I looked out through the wood-work at the window of my house. ⁷ And I saw among the child-like and among the young people a young man without wisdom and understanding. ⁸ He passed through the street near her corner and took the path to her house, ⁹ in the light of the evening, after it was dark. ¹⁰ See, a woman comes to meet him. She is dressed like a woman who sells the use of her body, and with a heart that wants to fool and trap someone. ¹¹ She is loud and has a strong self-will. Her feet do not stay at home. ¹² She is now in the street, now in the center of town where people gather. She lies in wait at every corner. ¹³ So she catches him and kisses him. With a hard face she says to him, ¹⁴ “It was time for me to give gifts on the altar in worship, and today I have paid what I promised. ¹⁵ So I have come out to meet you, to look for you, and I have found you. ¹⁶ I have spread my bed with coverings of linen cloth from Egypt. ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with fine perfumes and spices. ¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love until morning. Let us make ourselves happy with love. ¹⁹ For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long trip. ²⁰ He has taken a bag of money with him, and he will come home at full moon.”

²¹ She leads him away with her tempting talk. She tempts him with the smooth words of her lips. ²² All at once he follows her, like a bull going to be killed, like a wild animal goes into a trap, ²³ until an arrow cuts through him. Like a bird that hurries into the net, he does not know that he will lose his life.

²⁴ So, my sons, listen to me. Listen to the words of my mouth. ²⁵ Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not turn aside into her paths. ²⁶ For she has hurt many and destroyed many others. She has killed a great number. ²⁷ Her house is the way to hell, going down to the rooms of death.

2 As I thought about it, I decided I would not come to you again. It would only make you sad. ² If I make you sad, who is going to make me happy? How can you make me happy if I make you sad? ³ That is why I wrote that letter to you. I did not want to visit you and be made sad by the ones who should be making me happy. I am sure when I am happy, you are happy also. ⁴ I wrote you with a troubled heart. Tears were coming from my eyes. I did not want to make you sad. I wanted you to know how much I loved you.

Forgiving a Christian

⁵ If someone among you has brought sorrow, he has not made me as sad as he has all of you. I say this so I may not make it hard for you. ⁶ Most of you have punished him. That is enough for such a person. ⁷ Now you should forgive him and comfort him. If you do not, he will be so sad that he will want to give up. ⁸ I ask you to show him you do love him. ⁹ This is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you to see if you were willing to obey in all things. ¹⁰ If you forgive a man, I forgive him also. If I have forgiven anything, I have done it because of you. Christ sees me as I forgive. ¹¹ We forgive so that Satan will not win. We know how he works!

¹² When I arrived in the city of Troas, the Lord opened the door for me to preach the Good News of Christ. ¹³ I was worried because I could not find our brother Titus. After saying good-bye, I went on my way to the country of Macedonia. ¹⁴ We thank God for the power Christ has given us. He leads us and makes us win in everything. He speaks through us wherever we go. The Good News is like a sweet smell to those who hear it. ¹⁵ We are a sweet smell of Christ that reaches up to God. It reaches out to those who are being saved from the punishment of sin and to those who are still lost in sin. ¹⁶ It is the smell of death to those who are lost in sin. It is the smell of life to those who are being saved from the punishment of sin. Who is able for such a work? ¹⁷ We are not like others. They preach God’s Word to make money. We are men of truth and have been sent by God. We speak God’s Word with Christ’s power. All the time God sees us.