Proverbs 5
5
Avoid Adultery
1My son,
pay attention to my wisdom.
Open your ears to my understanding
2so that you may act with foresight
and speak with insight.
3The lips of an adulterous woman drip with honey.
Her kiss is smoother than oil,
4but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5Her feet descend to death.
Her steps lead straight to hell.
6She doesn’t even think about the path of life.
Her steps wander, and she doesn’t realize it.
7But now, sons,
listen to me,
and do not turn away from what I say to you.
8Stay far away from her.
Do not even go near her door.
9Either you will surrender your reputation to others
and ⌞the rest of⌟ your years to some cruel person,
10or strangers will benefit from your strength
and you will have to work hard in a pagan’s house.
11Then you will groan when your end comes,
when your body and flesh are consumed.
You will say,
12“Oh, how I hated discipline!
How my heart despised correction!
13I didn’t listen to what my teachers said to me,
nor did I keep my ear open to my instructors.
14I almost reached total ruin
in the assembly and in the congregation.”
15Drink water out of your own cistern
and running water from your own well.
16Why should water flow out of your spring?
Why should your streams flow into the streets?
17They should be yours alone,
so do not share them with strangers.
18Let your own fountain be blessed,
and enjoy the girl you married when you were young,
19a loving doe and a graceful deer.#5:19 Or “graceful goat.”
Always let her breasts satisfy you.
Always be intoxicated with her love.
20Why should you, my son,
be intoxicated with an adulterous woman
and fondle a loose woman’s breast?
21Each person’s ways are clearly seen by the Lord,
and he surveys all his actions.
22A wicked person will be trapped by his own wrongs,
and he will be caught in the ropes of his own sin.
23He will die for his lack of discipline
and stumble around because of his great stupidity.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 5
5
Warning Against Adultery
1 # ch. 4:20; [ch. 2:1, 2] My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
# ch. 22:17 incline your ear to my understanding,
2that you may keep #ch. 1:4 discretion,
and your lips may #Mal. 2:7guard knowledge.
3For the lips of #See ch. 2:16 a forbidden#5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20 woman drip honey,
and her speech#5:3 Hebrew palate is #Ps. 55:21smoother than oil,
4but in the end she is #[Eccles. 7:26] bitter as #Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:15, 19; Rev. 8:11 wormwood,
#
Ps. 57:4; [Ps. 55:21] sharp as #See Ps. 149:6a two-edged sword.
5Her feet #See ch. 7:27go down to death;
her steps follow the path to#5:5 Hebrew lay hold of Sheol;
6she #ver. 21; ch. 4:26does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7And #See ch. 4:1now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
9lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
10lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your #Ps. 127:2labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11and at the end of your life you #Ezek. 24:23groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12and you say, #ch. 1:22, 29; See ch. 12:1 “How I hated discipline,
and my heart #ch. 1:25; See Ps. 107:11despised reproof!
13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 # [Ps. 94:17] I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
15Drink #ver. 18; [ch. 9:17; Song 4:12, 15; Jer. 2:13]water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16Should your #See Ps. 68:26 springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water #[Jer. 9:21; Zech. 8:5]in the streets?
17 # [ch. 14:10] Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18Let your #[See ver. 15 above] fountain be blessed,
and #Deut. 24:5 rejoice in #Mal. 2:14the wife of your youth,
19a lovely #Song 2:9, 17; 8:14 deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts #[Jer. 31:14]fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated#5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20 always in her love.
20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with #See ch. 2:16a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of #See ch. 2:16an adulteress?#5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
21For #Ps. 119:168 a man’s ways are #Hos. 7:2; Heb. 4:13; See Job 14:16; Ps. 11:4 before the eyes of the Lord,
and he #ver. 6ponders#5:21 Or makes level all his paths.
22The #See Ps. 7:15, 16 iniquities of the wicked #ch. 6:2ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 # See Job 4:21 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is #[Job 12:24]led astray.
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