61 My son , if you have become surety for your neighbor , Have 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 hand of your neighbor , Go , humble yourself, and importune your neighbor . 4 Give no sleep to your eyes , Nor slumber to your eyelids ; 5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter's hand And like a bird from the hand of the fowler .
6 Go to the ant , O sluggard , Observe her ways and be wise , 7 Which , having no chief , Officer or ruler , 8 Prepares her food 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 " A little sleep , a little slumber , A little folding of the hands to rest "- 11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man .
12 A worthless person , a wicked man , Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth , 13 Who winks with his eyes , who signals with his feet , Who points with his fingers ; 14 Who with perversity in his heart continually e devises evil , Who spreads strife . 15 Therefore e his calamity will come suddenly ; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing . 16 There are six things which the Lord hates , Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes , a lying tongue , And hands that shed innocent blood , 18 A heart that devises wicked plans , Feet that run rapidly to evil , 19 A false witness who utters lies , And one who spreads strife among brothers .
20 My son , observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother ; 21 Bind them continually on your heart ; Tie them around your neck . 22 When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep , they will watch over you; And when you awake , they will talk to you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light ; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life 24 To keep you from the evil woman , From the smooth tongue of the adulteress . 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart , Nor let her capture you with her eyelids . 26 For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread , And an adulteress e hunts for the precious life . 27 Can a man 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 goes in to his neighbor's wife ; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished . 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals To satisfy himself when he is hungry ; 31 But when he is found , he must repay sevenfold ; He must give all the substance of his house . 32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense ; He who would destroy himself does it. 33 Wounds and disgrace he will find , And his reproach will not be blotted out. 34 For jealousy enrages a man , And he will not spare in the day of vengeance . 35 He will not accept e any ransom , Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts .
71 My son , keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. 2 Keep my commandments and live , And my teaching as the apple of your eye . 3 Bind them on your fingers ; 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 adulteress , From the foreigner who flatters with her words .
6 For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice , 7 And I saw among the naive , And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense , 8 Passing through the street near her corner ; And he takes the way to her house , 9 In the twilight , in the evening e , In the middle of the night and in the darkness . 10 And behold , a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart . 11 She is boisterous and rebellious , Her feet do not remain at home ; 12 She is now in the streets , now in the squares , And lurks by every corner . 13 So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him: 14 "I was due to offer peace offerings ; Today I have paid my vows . 15 "Therefore e I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly , and I have found you. 16 "I have spread my couch with coverings , With colored linens of Egypt . 17 "I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh , aloes and cinnamon . 18 "Come , let us drink our fill of love until morning ; Let us delight ourselves with caresses . 19 "For my husband is not at home , He has gone on a long e journey ; 20 He has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home ." 21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him. 22 Suddenly he follows e her As an ox goes to the slaughter , Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool , 23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver ; As a bird hastens to the snare , So he does not know that it will cost him his life .
24 Now therefore, my sons , listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth . 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways , Do not stray into her paths . 26 For many are the victims she has cast down , And numerous are all her slain . 27 Her house is the way to Sheol , Descending to the chambers of death .
21 But I determined this for my own sake , that I would not come to you in sorrow again . 2 For if I cause you sorrow , who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful ? 3 This is the very thing I wrote you, so e that when I came , I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice ; having 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 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 if any has caused sorrow , he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree -in order not to say too much -to all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority , 7 so that on the contrary you should rather 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 I wrote , so that I might put you to the test , whether you are 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 in the presence of Christ , 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan , for we are not ignorant of his schemes .
12 Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord , 13 I had no rest for my spirit , not finding Titus my brother ; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia .
14 But thanks be to God , who always leads us in triumph in Christ , and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place . 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing ; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death , to the other an aroma from life to life . And who is adequate for these things ? 17 For we are not like many , peddling the word of God , but as from sincerity , but as from God , we speak in Christ in the sight of God .
