1My son, if someone has borrowed money from a friend or a stranger,
2you may be trapped by what you have agreed to do,
3So, my son, I will tell you what you should do to escape from your difficulty,
4Do not wait until tomorrow; go immediately!
5Save yourself,
6You lazy individual, learn something from watching the ants.
7They do not have a king or a governor or any other person who rules them and forces them to work,
8but they work hard all during the summer,
9But, you lazy loafer, how long will you continue to sleep [RHQ]?
10You sleep a for a little time; you say, “I will take just a short nap.”
11and suddenly you will become poor.
12I will describe for you what worthless and evil people are like.
13by winking their eyes and moving their feet and making signs with their fingers,
14They plan to do evil things.
15But disasters will hit them suddenly;
16There are six, maybe seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. They are:
17People who show by their eyes that they are very proud;
18people who plan to do evil deeds;
19people who easily tell lies in court;
20My son, obey my commands,
21Remember the things that we have said.
22If you follow our advice, it will be as though what we have taught you [PRS] will lead you, wherever you go.
23These commands and what we teach you will be like a lamp to light your path [MET].
24Heeding [PRS] these commands and things that we have taught you will enable you to keep away from immoral women
25Even if such a woman is beautiful and has lovely eyes, do not desire to go with her.
26Do not forget that you can hire a prostitute for only a loaf of bread,
27Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
28Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
29No! And in the same way, anyone who ◄sleeps with/has sex with► another man’s wife will suffer for doing that.
30We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
31But if he steals something and then is caught by the police,
32But a man who commits adultery with some woman is very foolish,
33That woman’s husband will wound him badly,
34Because that woman’s husband will ◄be jealous/not want anyone else to sleep with her►, he will become furious,
35And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to ◄appease him/cause him to stop being angry►.