Proverbs 2:16-19

New Catholic Bible

¹⁶You will be saved from the wife of another,
    from the adulteress^[a] with her seductive words,
¹⁷who forsakes the partner of her youth
    and forgets her sacred covenant with God.
¹⁸For her house leads downward to death^[b]
    and her paths descend to the shades.
¹⁹Anyone who goes to her never returns
    or regains the paths of life.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 2:16 Wife of another . . . adulteress: literally, “stranger” and “foreigner” (see Prov 5:20; 7:5). The “immoral woman” (Prov 6:24) and “prostitute” (Prov 23:27) correspond to “wife of another.” The Prophets made use of the metaphor of adultery to indicate that the people had abandoned the true God to run after false gods—an apostasy that leads to the netherworld (see v. 18; 5:5-6; 7:26-27).
Proverbs 2:18 Leads downward to death: see Prov 7:27: “Her house is the pathway to the netherworld.” Immorality leads to death (see Prov 5:5; 9:18).

Proverbs 2:16-19

New International Version

¹⁶Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(A)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a]^(B)
¹⁸Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(C)
¹⁹None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(D)

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Footnotes

Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God

Proverbs 2:16-19

King James Version

¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

¹⁷Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

¹⁹None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

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Proverbs 2:16-19

New King James Version

¹⁶To deliver you from ^(A)the immoral woman,
^(B)From the seductress who flatters with her words,
¹⁷Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
¹⁸For ^(C)her house ^[a]leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
¹⁹None who go to her return,
Nor do they ^[b]regain the paths of life—