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
Nothing but Sin and Bones
1-2Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;
listen very closely to the way I see it.
Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;
what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.
3-6The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your mouth,
a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She’s dancing down the perfumed path to Death;
she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life,
about who she is or where she’s going.
7-14So, my friend, listen closely;
don’t treat my words casually.
Keep your distance from such a woman;
absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don’t want to squander your wonderful life,
to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you?
Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don’t want to end your life full of regrets,
nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me?
Why did I reject a disciplined life?
Why didn’t I listen to my mentors,
or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined!
I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my life!”
Never Take Love for Granted
15-16Do you know the saying, “Drink from your own rain barrel,
draw water from your own spring-fed well”?
It’s true. Otherwise, you may one day come home
and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.
17-20Your spring water is for you and you only,
not to be passed around among strangers.
Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!
Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—
don’t ever quit taking delight in her body.
Never take her love for granted!
Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a prostitute?
for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?
21-23Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make;
he’s aware of every step you take.
The shadow of your sin will overtake you;
you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.
Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;
your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.