My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor,
If thou hast stricken {Or, thy hand with a stranger}thy hands for a stranger;
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,
Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,
Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor:
Go, {Or, bestir}humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;
Give not sleep to thine eyes,
Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Deliver thyself as a {Or, gazelle}roe from the hand of the hunter,
And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard;
Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no {Or, judge}chief,
Overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as a {Or, rover}robber,
And thy want as {Hebrew: a man with a shield.}an armed man.
A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;
That winketh with his eyes, that {Or, shuffleth}speaketh with his feet,
That {Or, teacheth with}maketh signs with his fingers;
In whose heart is perverseness,
Who deviseth evil continually,
Who {Hebrew: letteth loose.}soweth discord.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;
On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
There are six things which Jehovah hateth;
Yea, seven which are an abomination {Hebrew: of his soul.}unto him:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood;
A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,
Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that {Hebrew: breatheth out.}uttereth lies,
And he that {Hebrew: letteth loose.}soweth discord among brethren.
My son, keep the commandment of thy father,
And forsake not the {Or, teaching}law of thy mother:
Bind them continually upon thy heart;
Tie them about thy neck.
When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;
When thou {Hebrew: liest down.}sleepest, it shall watch over thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
For {Or, their commandment}the commandment is a lamp; and {Or, their teaching}the law is light;
And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
To keep thee from the evil woman,
From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue.
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart;
Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread;
And {Hebrew: a man's wife.}the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
Can a man take fire in his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?
Or can one walk upon hot coals,
And his feet not be scorched?
So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife;
Whosoever toucheth her shall not be {Hebrew: held innocent.}unpunished.
Men do not despise a thief, if he steal
To satisfy {Or, his appetite}himself when he is hungry:
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;
He shall give all the substance of his house.
He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding:
He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.
Wounds and dishonor shall he get;
And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
For jealousy is the rage of a man;
And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
He will not regard any ransom;
Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 6,7 Spr 6,7
Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Who provideth for the raven his prey,When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young,They cast out their pains.
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field;They go forth, and {Or, return not unto them}return not again.
Who hath sent out the wild ass free?Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
Whose home I have made the wilderness,And the salt land his dwelling-place?
He scorneth the tumult of the city,Neither heareth he the shoutings of the {Or, taskmaster}driver.
The range of the mountains is his pasture,And he searcheth after every green thing.
Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee?Or will he abide by thy crib?
Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow?Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?Or wilt thou leave to him thy labor?
Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed,And gather the grain of thy threshing-floor?
Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth,And stretcheth her wings toward the south?
Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up,And maketh her nest on high?
On the cliff she dwelleth, and maketh her home,Upon the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
From thence she spieth out the prey;Her eyes behold it afar off.
Her young ones also suck up blood:And where the slain are, there is she.
Will he make a covenant with thee,That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
Will the bands of fishermen make traffic of him?Will they part him among the merchants?
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons,Or his head with fish-spears?
Lay thy hand upon him;Remember the battle, and do so no more.
{[Chapter 41:1 in Hebrew]}Behold, the hope of him is in vain:Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
None is so fierce that he dare stir him up;Who then is he that can stand before me?
Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him?Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
Who can {Hebrew: uncover the face of his garment.}strip off his outer garment?Who shall come within his jaws?
Who can open the doors of his face? {Or, His teeth are terrible round about}Round about his teeth is terror.
His {Or, courses of scales Hebrew: channels of shields.}strong scales are his pride,Shut up together as with a close seal.
One is so near to another,That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;They stick together, so that they cannot be sundered.
His sneezings flash forth light,And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
Out of his mouth go burning torches,And sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth,As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindleth coals,And a flame goeth forth from his mouth.
In his neck abideth strength,And terror danceth before him.
The flakes of his flesh are joined together:They are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.
His heart is as firm as a stone;Yea, firm as the nether millstone.
When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid:By reason of consternation they are beside themselves.
If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail;Nor the spear, the dart, nor the {Or, coat of mail}pointed shaft.
He counteth iron as straw,And brass as rotten wood.
The {Hebrew: son of the bow.}arrow cannot make him flee:Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.
Clubs are counted as stubble:He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds:He spreadeth as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
He maketh a path to shine after him;One would think the deep to be hoary.
Upon earth there is not his like,That is made without fear.
He beholdeth everything that is high:He is king over all the sons of pride.