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Proverbs 5
Expanded Bible
Proverbs 5
Expanded Bible
Warning About Adultery
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
·listen [L bend your ear] to my words of understanding.
2 ·Be careful to use good sense [or So you might keep discrete]
and ·watch what you say [L your lips might protect knowledge].
3 The ·words of another man’s wife [lips of an immoral/L strange woman] may ·seem sweet as [L drip like] honey;
·they [L her tongue/palette] may be as smooth as olive oil.
4 But in the end she ·will bring you sorrow [L is bitter like wormwood],
·causing you pain [L sharp] like a two-edged sword.
5 ·She is on the way [L Her feet go down] to death;
her steps ·are headed straight [or grab on] to ·the grave [L Sheol].
6 She gives little thought to the path of life.
·She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong [L Her paths wander and she does not even realize it].
7 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t ·ignore what I say [L turn aside from the speeches of my mouth].
8 ·Stay away from such a woman [L Keep your path far from her].
Don’t even go near the ·door [entrance] of her house,
9 or you will give your ·riches [honor; or vitality; vigor] to others,
and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
10 Strangers will ·enjoy your wealth [or sap your strength],
and what you worked so hard for will ·go to someone else [L end up in the house of a foreigner].
11 You will groan at the end of your life
when your ·health is gone [L body and flesh are exhausted].
12 Then you will say, “I hated ·being told what to do [instruction; discipline]!
·I would not listen to [L My heart despised] correction!
13 I would not listen to my teachers
or ·pay attention [extend my heart] to my instructors.
14 I ·came [or am] close to being completely ruined
in front of ·a whole group of people [L the assembled congregation].”
15 ·Be faithful to your own wife [L Drink water from your own well; Song 4:10–15],
·just as you drink [L gushing] water from your own ·well [cistern].
16 Don’t ·pour your water in the streets [L let your fountains burst forth outside];
·don’t give your love to just any woman [L streams of water in the public squares].
17 These things are yours alone
and shouldn’t be shared with strangers.
18 ·Be happy with the wife you married when you were young [L Rejoice in the wife of your youth].
·She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water [L May your spring be blessed].
19 She is a lovely deer and a graceful doe.
Let her ·love [or breasts] always make you happy;
let her love always ·hold you captive [intoxicate/inebriate you; Song 4:10].
20 My son, ·don’t be held captive [L why should you be intoxicated/inebriated…?] by a ·woman who takes part in adultery [L stranger].
Don’t fondle the bosom of a ·woman who is not your wife [L foreigner].
21 The ·Lord sees everything you do [L eyes of the Lord are on the path of every person],
and he watches ·where you go [L all their ways].
22 An evil man will be ·caught [captured] in his wicked ways;
the ropes of his sins will tie him up.
23 He will die ·because he does not control himself [L without discipline/instruction],
and he will be ·held captive [or intoxicated; inebriated] by his ·foolishness [stupidity].
Proverbs 5
Complete Jewish Bible
Proverbs 5
Complete Jewish Bible
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding;
2 so that you will preserve discretion
and your lips keep watch over knowledge.
3 For the lips of a woman who is a stranger drop honey,
her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death,
her steps lead straight to Sh’ol;
6 she doesn’t walk the level path of life —
her course wanders all over, but she doesn’t know it.
7 So now, children, listen to me;
don’t turn away from what I am saying:
8 distance your way from her,
stay far from the door of her house;
9 so that you won’t give your vigor to others
and your years to someone who is cruel,
10 so strangers won’t be filled with your strength
and what you worked for go to a foreign house.
11 Then, when your flesh and bones have shrunk,
at the end of your life, you would moan,
12 “How I hated discipline!
My whole being despised reproof,
13 I ignored what my teachers said,
I didn’t listen to my instructors.
14 I took part in almost every kind of evil,
and the whole community knew it.”
15 Drink the water from your own cistern,
fresh water from your own well.
16 Let what your springs produce be dispersed outside,
streams of water flowing in the streets;
17 but let them be for you alone
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain, the wife of your youth,
be blessed; find joy in her —
19 a lovely deer, a graceful fawn;
let her breasts satisfy you at all times,
always be infatuated with her love.
20 My son, why be infatuated with an unknown woman?
Why embrace the body of a loose woman?
21 For Adonai is watching a man’s ways;
he surveys all his paths.
22 A wicked person’s own crimes will trap him,
he will be held fast by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will die from lack of discipline;
the magnitude of his folly will make him totter and fall.
Proverbs 5
New International Version
Proverbs 5
New International Version
Warning Against Adultery
5 My son,(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words(B) of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;(C)
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,(D)
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.(E)
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(F)
7 Now then, my sons, listen(G) to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,(H)
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.(I)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!(J)
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(K)
in the assembly of God’s people.”(L)
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain(M) be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.(N)
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer(O)—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:9 Or years
Expanded Bible (EXB)
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Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.