The Peril of Adultery

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
[a]Lend your ear to my understanding,
That you may [b]preserve discretion,
And your lips (A)may keep knowledge.
(B)For the lips of [c]an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is (C)smoother than oil;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death,
(D)Her steps lay hold of [d]hell.
Lest you ponder her path of life—
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.

Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
Lest you give your [e]honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest aliens be filled with your [f]wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11 And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say:
“How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
[g]Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with (E)the wife of your youth.
19 (F)As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be [h]enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by (G)an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

21 (H)For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He [i]ponders all his paths.
22 (I)His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 (J)He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:1 Lit. Bow
  2. Proverbs 5:2 appreciate good judgment
  3. Proverbs 5:3 Lit. a strange
  4. Proverbs 5:5 Or Sheol
  5. Proverbs 5:9 vigor
  6. Proverbs 5:10 Lit. strength
  7. Proverbs 5:16 Channels
  8. Proverbs 5:19 Lit. intoxicated
  9. Proverbs 5:21 observes, lit. weighs

My child, be attentive to my wisdom,
    and to my understanding incline your ear;
in order to keep prudence,
    and knowledge will guard your lips.
For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
    and smoother than oil is her mouth.[a]
But her end is bitter as the wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
    her steps take hold of Sheol.[b]
She does not observe[c] the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

Do Not Commit Adultery Against Wisdom

Now, O children, listen to me;
    do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.
Keep your paths far from her,
    and do not go near to the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to the others,
    and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and you groan at your end,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and say “How I hated discipline,
    and I despised reproof!”
13 and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
    and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost at utter[d] ruin[e]
    in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
    and flowing waters from inside your own well.
16 Shall your springs be scattered outward?
    In the streets, shall there be streams of water?
17 May they be yours alone,
    and not for strangers who are with you.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife[f] of your youth.
19 She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;
    may her breasts satisfy you always;[g]
    by her love may you be intoxicated continually.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
    and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,[h]
    and all his paths he examines.
22 His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,
    and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.
23 He shall die for lack of[i] discipline,
    and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Or “palate”
  2. Proverbs 5:5 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
  3. Proverbs 5:6 Or “examine, weigh”
  4. Proverbs 5:14 Or “all, every, whole”
  5. Proverbs 5:14 Or “evil”
  6. Proverbs 5:18 Or “woman”
  7. Proverbs 5:19 Literally “at all time”
  8. Proverbs 5:21 Literally “the ways of man/humankind”
  9. Proverbs 5:23 Literally “with there is no”