²⁴ to preserve you from an immoral woman,
    from the seductive tongue of an adulteress.
²⁵ Do not lust after her beauty in your heart
    or allow her to entice you with her eyes.
²⁶ For if a prostitute seeks a loaf of bread,
    the adulteress endangers your very life.^[a]
27 Can a man kindle a fire in his bosom
    without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Or can a man walk on red-hot coals
    without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man
    who consorts with his neighbor’s wife;
    no one who touches her will escape punishment.