A Warning About Risky Promises
Study note
In the ancient world, a person could promise to pay someone else's debt if that person could not pay. This was called being a 'surety.' The father warns that making this kind of promise rashly is like being caught in a trap. If you have already made such a promise, he says, go immediately and urgently free yourself from it.
1 My child, what if you shook hands and promised to pay someone else's debts? What if you gave your word to back up a stranger? My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 then your own words have become a cage around you. What you said has locked you in. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 Here is what to do, my child. You are now at someone else's mercy. Rush to that person right away. Drop your pride. Beg them to let you off the hook. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4 Do not let yourself fall asleep. Do not even let your eyelids get heavy. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5 Break free the way a deer bolts from a hunter, like a bird escaping a trapper's net. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Learn a Lesson from the Ant
Study note
The lazy person is told to look at the ant, which works hard all summer storing food without anyone telling it what to do. Ants in Israel would collect and store grain during harvest season. The lazy person keeps saying, 'Just a little more sleep,' but poverty will come suddenly and hit like a robber.
6 Take a look at the ant, you lazy person! Watch what it does and let it teach you something. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Nobody gives the ant orders. It has no supervisor, no manager, and no boss. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Yet it works all summer to stockpile food and gathers everything it needs during harvest season. Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 Seriously, how long do you plan to stay in bed? When are you going to drag yourself up? How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 "Let me sleep a tiny bit more. Let me rest my eyes just a little longer. Let me stay comfortable with my hands folded." Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 But while you nap, poverty will break in on you like a burglar, and need will assault you like a man with a weapon. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
The Troublemaker
Study note
This section describes a troublemaker who uses body language to plot evil: winking, making signals with feet and fingers. In the ancient Near East, these were recognized as signs of scheming and dishonesty. Such a person will face sudden and complete disaster.
12 A person who is rotten to the core makes a career out of lying and deceiving. A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13 They communicate through secret winks, coded foot taps, and sneaky hand signals. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14 Their mind is always cooking up some twisted scheme. They constantly plant seeds of conflict between people. Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15 Because of this, ruin will slam into them out of nowhere. In a single moment they will be shattered beyond repair. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
Seven Things the Lord Hates
Study note
This is one of the most famous lists in the Bible. The pattern of 'six things, yes seven' is a Hebrew way of emphasizing the final item on the list. All seven involve dishonesty, pride, violence, or causing division between people. The seventh and worst thing is someone who stirs up conflict among friends and family.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, and a seventh that he finds revolting: These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 eyes puffed up with arrogance, a tongue that produces lies, and hands that spill innocent blood, A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a mind that designs wicked plots, feet that sprint toward doing wrong, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 a witness who lies under oath, and anyone who stirs up trouble among brothers and sisters. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
A Warning Against Adultery
Study note
The father returns to the theme of sexual faithfulness. He compares adultery to carrying fire against your chest or walking on hot coals: you will get burned. While society may show some understanding toward a thief who steals out of hunger, there is no such understanding for adultery. It brings shame that can never be fully erased, and a jealous husband will show no mercy.
20 My child, carry out what your father tells you to do, and never dismiss what your mother has taught you. My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind their words to your heart permanently. Hang them around your neck like a chain. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 Their teaching will point the way when you walk, stand guard while you sleep, and speak to you the moment you open your eyes. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 What they instruct you is like a lamp; their teaching shines like a light. The corrections they give are the pathway that leads to a great life. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 These lessons will protect you from a sinful woman. They will guard you from the smooth words of an unfaithful woman. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Do not let yourself crave her beauty, and do not let her capture you with a flirtatious look. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 Getting involved with an immoral woman will cost you everything. You will be left with nothing but crumbs. Another man's wife will hunt you down like prey. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can you stuff fire inside your coat without your clothes catching flame? Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can you walk across burning coals without scorching your feet? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 The same thing happens to anyone who gets involved with another man's wife. No one who does this escapes the consequences. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
30 Nobody looks down on a thief who steals because hunger is eating him alive. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 But if he gets caught, he still has to pay back seven times what he took, even if it wipes out everything he owns. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32 A man who commits adultery has lost his mind entirely. Anyone who does this is tearing their own life apart. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33 Wounds and dishonor are what wait for him, and the stain of shame will follow him permanently. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 A betrayed husband burns with jealous rage, and when he gets his chance for payback, he will hold nothing back. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 No amount of money will buy his forgiveness. You could offer him a fortune and he would still refuse. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.