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 6,23 Spr 6,23
The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart:The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy {Greek: lampstands.}candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.
And say, How have I hated instruction,And my heart despised reproof;
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:And happy is every one that retaineth her.
{Or, Thou through thy commandments makest}Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies;For they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers;For thy testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,Because I have kept thy precepts.
The ear that hearkeneth to the reproof of lifeShall abide among the wise.
And he taught me, and said unto me:Let thy heart retain my words;Keep my commandments, and live;
נ NUN.Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,And light unto my path.
The rod and reproof give wisdom;But a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother.
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go:Keep her; for she is thy life.
To the {Or, teaching}law and to the testimony! {Or, surely according to this word shall they speak for whom there is no morning}if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
To the wise the way of life goeth upward,That he may depart from Sheol beneath.
And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a {Greek: squalid.}dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:
Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness;And let him reprove me, it shall be as oil upon the head;Let not my head refuse it:For {Or, still is my prayer against their wickedness}even in their {Or, calamities}wickedness shall my prayer continue.
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.