6Dear friend, if you've gone into hock with your neighbor or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,H1121H6148H7453H8628H3709H2114 2If you've impulsively promised the shirt off your back and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,H3369H561H6310H3920H561H6310 3Friend, don't waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess. You're in that man's clutches! Go, put on a long face; act desperate.H6213H645H1121H5337H935H3709H7453H3212H7511H7292H7453 4Don't procrastinate— there's no time to lose.H5414H8142H5869H8572H6079 5Run like a deer from the hunter, fly like a bird from the trapper!H5337H6643H3027H6833H3027H3353 6You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.H3212H5244H6102H7200H1870H2449 7Nobody has to tell it what to do.H7101H7860H4910 8All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.H3559H3899H7019H103H3978H7105 9So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed?H7901H6102H6965H8142 10A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?H4592H8142H4592H8572H4592H2264H3027H7901 11Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!H7389H935H1980H4270H4043H376 12Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths.H1100H120H205H376H1980H6143H6310 13They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross their fingers behind their backs.H7169H5869H4448H7272H3384H676 14Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty, always stirring up trouble.H8419H3820H2790H7451H6256H7971H4066H4090 15Catastrophe is just around the corner for them, a total smash-up, their lives ruined beyond repair.H343H935H6597H6621H7665H4832 16Here are six things GOD hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion:H8337H3068H8130H7651H8441H5315 17eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent,H7311H5869H8267H3956H3027H8210H5355H1818 18a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track,H3820H2790H205H4284H7272H4116H7323H7451 19a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.H8267H5707H6315H3577H7971H4090H251 20Good friend, follow your father's good advice; don't wander off from your mother's teachings.H1121H5341H1H4687H5203H8451H517 21Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck.H7194H8548H3820H6029H1621 22Wherever you walk, they'll guide you; whenever you rest, they'll guard you; when you wake up, they'll tell you what's next.H1980H5148H7901H8104H6974H7878 23For sound advice is a beacon, good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path.H4687H5216H8451H216H8433H4148H1870H2416 24They'll protect you from wanton women, from the seductive talk of some temptress.H8104H7451H802H2513H3956H5237 25Don't lustfully fantasize on her beauty, nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes.H2530H3308H3824H3947H6079 26You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton woman may well eat you alive.H1157H2181H802H3603H3899H802H376H6679H3368H5315 27Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants?H376H2846H784H2436H899H8313 28Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get blisters?H376H1980H1513H7272H3554 29It's the same when you have sex with your neighbor's wife: Touch her and you'll pay for it. No excuses.H935H7453H802H5060H5352 30Hunger is no excuse for a thief to steal;H936H1590H1589H4390H5315H7456 31When he's caught he has to pay it back, even if he has to put his whole house in hock.H4672H7999H7659H5414H1952H1004 32Adultery is a brainless act, soul-destroying, self-destructive;H5003H802H2638H3820H6213H7843H5315 33Expect a bloody nose, a black eye, and a reputation ruined for good.H5061H7036H4672H2781H4229 34For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated husband; wild for revenge, he won't make allowances.H7068H2534H1397H2550H3117H5359 35Nothing you say or pay will make it all right; neither bribes nor reason will satisfy him.H5375H6440H3724H14H7235H7810
The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.
More details.
Unknown
