Proverbs 5:1-6:19

English Standard Version

Warning Against Adultery

5 ^(A)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    ^(B)incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep ^(C)discretion,
    and your lips may ^(D)guard knowledge.
³For the lips of ^(E)a forbidden^[a] woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[b] is ^(F)smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is ^(G)bitter as ^(H)wormwood,
    ^(I)sharp as ^(J)a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet ^(K)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[c] Sheol;
⁶she ^(L)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And ^(M)now, 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 ^(N)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you ^(O)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, ^(P)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(Q)despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴^(R)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink ^(S)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your ^(T)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water ^(U)in the streets?
¹⁷^(V)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your ^(W)fountain be blessed,
    and ^(X)rejoice in ^(Y)the wife of your youth,
¹⁹    a lovely ^(Z)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts ^(AA)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated^[d] always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^(AB)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of ^(AC)an adulteress?^[e]
²¹For ^(AD)a man's ways are ^(AE)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ^(AF)ponders^[f] all his paths.
²²The ^(AG)iniquities of the wicked ^(AH)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³^(AI)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is ^(AJ)led astray.

Practical Warnings

6 My son, if you have put up ^(AK)security for your neighbor,
    have ^(AL)given your pledge for a stranger,
²if you are ^(AM)snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
³then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten,^[g] and ^(AN)plead urgently with your neighbor.
⁴^(AO)Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
⁵save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,^[h]
    ^(AP)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶^(AQ)Go to ^(AR)the ant, O ^(AS)sluggard;
    consider her ways, and ^(AT)be wise.
⁷^(AU)Without having any chief,
    ^(AV)officer, or ruler,
⁸she prepares her bread ^(AW)in summer
    and ^(AX)gathers her food in harvest.
⁹^(AY)How long will you lie there, ^(AZ)O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰^(BA)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    ^(BB)a little ^(BC)folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹^(BD)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

¹²^(BE)A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with ^(BF)crooked speech,
¹³^(BG)winks with his eyes, signals^[i] with his feet,
    points with his finger,
¹⁴with ^(BH)perverted heart ^(BI)devises evil,
    continually ^(BJ)sowing discord;
¹⁵therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    ^(BK)in a moment he will be broken ^(BL)beyond healing.

¹⁶There are ^(BM)six things that the Lord hates,
    ^(BN)seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷^(BO)haughty eyes, ^(BP)a lying tongue,
    and ^(BQ)hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸^(BR)a heart that devises wicked plans,
    ^(BS)feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹^(BT)a false witness who ^(BU)breathes out lies,
    and one who ^(BV)sows discord among brothers.