Pro 6 | EE | STEP | You may have promised to pay the debts of a friend or of a stranger.

Proverbs 6

The father tells his son again that he must be careful

1 You may have promised to pay the debts of a friend or of a stranger.

2 You may have let a man use your words and promises for his own purposes.

3 So now, you are in the power of that man. Hurry to him and ask him quietly to make you free from your promise.

4 Do not let yourself sleep or even stop to rest.

5 Like a bird or a wild animal that runs away from the hunter, make yourself free.

6 Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way that ants live.

7 They have no leader or ruler,

8 but they prepare their food during the summer. They get it at the time of harvest to prepare for winter.

9 You lie in bed too long, you lazy man! It seems that you will never get up out of bed!

10 ‘I will have only a short sleep’, he says. ‘I will stop work and I will rest for a short time.’

11 But while you sleep you will lose all your things. It is as if someone robs you.

12 Bad people go about and they tell everybody false things.

13 They send messages with their eyes, their feet and their fingers. They want people to believe what is false.

14 They think about how to say what is not true. They decide to do bad things all the time. They cause quarrels everywhere.

15 Because of this, very bad trouble will happen to them. It will happen quickly and they will not be able to make things better.

16 There are 6 things that the LORD does not like. There are 7 things that he hates: ^{▼▼6:16 Verses 16-19 use a different style of poetry. The poet writes a list of things that God does not like.}

17 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse Pro 6:19.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses Pro 6:17-Pro 6:19.}18 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse Pro 6:19.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses Pro 6:17-Pro 6:19.}19 A person who thinks that he is great

A mouth that speaks false things

Hands that kill people that have done nothing wrong

A mind that decides to do what is wrong

Feet that hurry to do bad things

A person who gives false reports of what he has seen

Someone who causes trouble among friends.

The father tells his son that he should keep away from adulteresses

20 Obey your father’s rules, my son. And never forget what your mother taught you.

21 Do not forget their words. Think about them often.

22 When you walk, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you safe. When you wake up, they will speak to you.

23 Their rules and what they taught you are like a light. They told you when you did wrong things. And that showed you how to live.

24 They can keep you away from bad women. An adulteress will say nice things to you. But she wants to cause you to do wrong things.

25 Do not want these beautiful women. And do not let them cause you to do wrong things.

26 A prostitute makes a man poor. He can only buy a loaf of bread. She will rob you of your life.

27 You cannot carry fire next to your body and not burn your clothes.

28 A man cannot walk over a fire and not burn his feet.

29 It is like that when a man sleeps with another man’s wife. Punishment will happen to whoever touches her.

30 Someone may rob to get food when he is hungry. So people do not think that he is bad.

31 But if someone catches him, he must pay back more. He must pay back 7 things for each thing that he took. He must give up everything that he has in his house.

32 But an adulterer does not know anything. He destroys himself.

33 Men will hit him. They will no longer think that he is a good man. They will never forget his shame.

34 The husband will have bad thoughts about the adulterer and he will be angry with him. He will punish the adulterer very much.

35 He will not accept any money. He will refuse any amount of gifts.