New English [1970], THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE) [word count] [B16000].
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1 My son, if you pledge yourself to another man
and stand surety for a stranger,
2 if you are caught by your promise,
trapped by some promise you have made,
3 do what I now tell you note
and save yourself, my son:
when you fall into another man's power,
bestir yourself, go and pester the man,
4 give yourself no rest,
allow yourself no sleep.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the toils, note
like a bird from the grasp of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard,
watch her ways and get wisdom.
7 She has no overseer,
no governor or ruler;
8 but in summer she prepares her store of food
and lays in her supplies at harvest.
9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie abed?
When will you rouse yourself from sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
-- --
Advice to the reader
a little folding of the hands in rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
want like a ruffian.
12 A scoundrel, a mischievous man, is he
who prowls about with crooked talk—
13 a wink of the eye,
a touch with the foot,
a sign with the fingers.
14 Subversion is the evil that he is plotting,
he stirs up quarrels all the time.
15 Down comes disaster suddenly upon him;
suddenly he is broken beyond all remedy.
16 Six things the Lord hates,
seven things are detestable to him:
17 a proud eye, a false tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that forges thoughts of mischief,
and feet that run swiftly to do evil,
19 a false witness telling a pack of lies,
and one who stirs up quarrels between brothers.
20 My son, observe your father's commands
and do not reject the teaching of your mother;
21 wear them always next your heart
and bind them close about your neck;
23 note for a command is a lamp, and teaching a light,
reproof and correction point the way of life,
24 to keep you from the wife of another man,
from the seductive tongue of the loose woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart
or let her glance provoke you;
26 for a prostitute can be had for the price of a loaf,
but a married woman is out for bigger game.
27 Can a man kindle fire in his bosom
without burning his clothes?
28 If a man walks on hot coals,
will his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps with his neighbour's wife;
no one can touch such a woman and go free.
30 Is not a thief contemptible when he steals
to satisfy his appetite, even if he is hungry?
-- --
Advice to the reader
31 And, if he is caught, must he not pay seven times over
and surrender all that his house contains?
32 So one who commits adultery is a senseless fool:
he dishonours the woman and ruins himself;
33 he will get nothing but blows and contumely
and will never live down the disgrace;
34 for a husband's anger is a jealous anger
and in the day of vengeance he will show no mercy;
35 compensation will not buy his forgiveness; note
no bribe, however large, will purchase his connivance.
New English [1970], THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE) [word count] [B16000].
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