Pitfalls of Immorality

My son, (A)pay attention to my wisdom,
(B)Incline your ear to my understanding,
So that you may (C)maintain discretion
And your (D)lips may comply with knowledge.
For the lips of an [a](E)adulteress (F)drip honey,
And her [b]speech is (G)smoother than oil;
But in the end she is (H)bitter as wormwood,
(I)Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet (J)go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.
[c]She does not ponder the (K)path of life;
Her ways are (L)unstable, she (M)does not know it.

(N)Now then, my sons, listen to me
And (O)do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
(P)Keep your way far from her,
And do not go near the (Q)door of her house,
Otherwise you will give your vigor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10 And strangers will be filled with your strength,
And your hard-earned possessions will go to the house of a foreigner;
11 And you will groan [d]in [e]the end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I (R)hated instruction!
And my heart (S)disdainfully rejected rebuke!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my (T)teachers,
Nor incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And [f]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your (U)springs overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (V)fountain be blessed,
And (W)rejoice in the (X)wife of your youth.
19 Like a loving (Y)doe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be [g]exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an [h](Z)adulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a (AA)foreigner?
21 For the (AB)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He (AC)observes all his paths.
22 His (AD)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will (AE)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.

Parental Counsel

My son, if you have become a (AF)guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
Then do this, my son, and save yourself:
Since you have come into the [i]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.
Give no (AG)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a (AH)bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the (AI)ant, you [j](AJ)lazy one,
Observe its ways and be wise,
Which, having (AK)no chief,
Officer, or ruler,
Prepares its food (AL)in the summer
And gathers its provision in the harvest.
How long will you lie down, you [k]lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (AM)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [l]rest,”
11 (AN)Then your poverty will come in like a [m]drifter,
And your need like [n]an armed man.

12 A (AO)worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a (AP)perverse mouth,
13 Who (AQ)winks with his eyes, who [o]signals with his feet,
Who [p]points with his fingers;
14 Who, with (AR)perversion in his heart, continually (AS)devises evil,
Who [q](AT)spreads strife.
15 Therefore (AU)his disaster will come suddenly;
(AV)Instantly he will be broken and there will be (AW)no healing.

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination [r]to Him:
17 (AX)Haughty eyes, a (AY)lying tongue,
And hands that (AZ)shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises (BA)wicked plans,
(BB)Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A (BC)false witness who declares lies,
And one who [s](BD)spreads strife among brothers.

20 (BE)My son, comply with the commandment of your father,
And do not ignore the [t]teaching of your mother;
21 (BF)Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you (BG)walk, [u]they will guide you;
When you sleep, [v]they will watch over you;
And when you awake, [w]they will talk to you.
23 For (BH)the commandment is a lamp and the [x]teaching is light;
And rebukes for discipline are the way of life
24 To (BI)keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 (BJ)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her (BK)eyelids.
26 For (BL)the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread,
And [y]an adulteress (BM)hunts for a precious life.
27 Can anyone take fire in his lap
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a person walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who (BN)goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her (BO)will not [z]go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
To (BP)satisfy [aa]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (BQ)repay seven times as much;
He must give up all the property of his house.
32 One who commits adultery with a woman is (BR)lacking [ab]sense;
He who would (BS)destroy [ac]himself commits it.
33 He will find wounds and disgrace,
And his shame will not be removed.
34 For (BT)jealousy [ad]enrages a man,
And he will not have compassion on the (BU)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [ae]accept any settlement,
Nor will he be [af]satisfied though you make it a large gift.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Lit strange woman
  2. Proverbs 5:3 Lit palate
  3. Proverbs 5:6 Lit That she not watch
  4. Proverbs 5:11 Or at
  5. Proverbs 5:11 Lit your end
  6. Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
  7. Proverbs 5:19 Lit intoxicated
  8. Proverbs 5:20 Lit strange woman
  9. Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm
  10. Proverbs 6:6 Lit idle one
  11. Proverbs 6:9 Lit idle one
  12. Proverbs 6:10 Lit lie down
  13. Proverbs 6:11 Lit one who moves about
  14. Proverbs 6:11 Lit a man with a shield
  15. Proverbs 6:13 Lit scrapes
  16. Proverbs 6:13 Lit instructs with
  17. Proverbs 6:14 Lit sends out
  18. Proverbs 6:16 Lit of His soul
  19. Proverbs 6:19 Lit sends out
  20. Proverbs 6:20 Or law
  21. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  22. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  23. Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
  24. Proverbs 6:23 Or law
  25. Proverbs 6:26 Lit a man’s wife
  26. Proverbs 6:29 Lit be innocent
  27. Proverbs 6:30 Lit his soul
  28. Proverbs 6:32 Lit heart
  29. Proverbs 6:32 Lit his soul
  30. Proverbs 6:34 Lit is the rage of
  31. Proverbs 6:35 Lit lift up the face of any
  32. Proverbs 6:35 Lit willing

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