| 6:1 | My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
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| 6:2 | if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
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| 6:3 | then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands |
| 6:4 | Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
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| 6:5 | Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
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| 6:6 | Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
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| 6:7 | It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
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| 6:8 | yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
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| 6:9 | How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
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| 6:10 | A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--
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| 6:11 | and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
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| 6:12 | A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
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| 6:13 | who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers,
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| 6:14 | who plots evil with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension.
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| 6:15 | Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed-- without remedy.
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| 6:16 | There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him |
| 6:17 | haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
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| 6:18 | a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
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| 6:19 | a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
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| 6:20 | My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
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| 6:21 | Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.
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| 6:22 | When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
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| 6:23 | For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,
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| 6:24 | keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
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| 6:25 | Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,
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| 6:26 | for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
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| 6:27 | Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
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| 6:28 | Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
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| 6:29 | So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
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| 6:30 | Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
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| 6:31 | Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
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| 6:32 | But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
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| 6:33 | Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away;
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| 6:34 | for jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
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| 6:35 | He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.
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| 7:1 | My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.
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| 7:2 | Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
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| 7:3 | Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
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| 7:4 | Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman;
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| 7:5 | they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.
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| 7:6 | At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice.
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| 7:7 | I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment.
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| 7:8 | He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house
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| 7:9 | at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.
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| 7:10 | Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
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| 7:11 | (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home;
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| 7:12 | now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.)
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| 7:13 | She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said |
| 7:14 | "I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows.
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| 7:15 | So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!
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| 7:16 | I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt.
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| 7:17 | I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
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| 7:18 | Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love!
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| 7:19 | My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
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| 7:20 | He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon."
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| 7:21 | With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.
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| 7:22 | All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose
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| 7:23 | till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
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| 7:24 | Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.
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| 7:25 | Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths.
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| 7:26 | Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng.
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| 7:27 | Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
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| 2:1 | So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.
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| 2:2 | For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved?
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| 2:3 | I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy.
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| 2:4 | For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
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| 2:5 | If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent-- not to put it too severely.
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| 2:6 | The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
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| 2:7 | Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
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| 2:8 | I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
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| 2:9 | The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
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| 2:10 | If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven-- if there was anything to forgive-- I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
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| 2:11 | in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
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| 2:12 | Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
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| 2:13 | I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
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| 2:14 | But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
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| 2:15 | For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
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| 2:16 | To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
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| 2:17 | Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
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