Proverbs 6:23-35
New Living Translation
23 For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
24 It will keep you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
25 Don’t lust for her beauty.
Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,[a]
but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
27 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap
and not have his clothes catch on fire?
28 Can he walk on hot coals
and not blister his feet?
29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.
He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
Footnotes
- 6:26 Hebrew to a loaf of bread.
Proverbs 6:23-35
English Standard Version
23 For the commandment is (A)a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the (B)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,[a]
from the smooth tongue of (C)the adulteress.[b]
25 (D)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her (E)eyelashes;
26 for (F)the price of a prostitute is only (G)a loaf of bread,[c]
but a married woman[d] (H)hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry (I)fire next to his (J)chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one (K)walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
none who touches her (L)will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to (M)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but (N)if he is caught, he will pay (O)sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For (P)jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when (Q)he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
- Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
- Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
- Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
