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Amonestación contra la impureza

Hijo mío, está atento a mi sabiduría,

Y a mi inteligencia inclina tu oído,

Para que guardes consejo,

Y tus labios conserven la ciencia.

Porque los labios de la mujer extraña destilan miel,

Y su paladar es más blando que el aceite;

Mas su fin es amargo como el ajenjo,

Agudo como espada de dos filos.

Sus pies descienden a la muerte;

Sus pasos conducen al Seol.

Sus caminos son inestables; no los conocerás,

Si no considerares el camino de vida.

Ahora pues, hijos, oídme,

Y no os apartéis de las razones de mi boca.

Aleja de ella tu camino,

Y no te acerques a la puerta de su casa;

Para que no des a los extraños tu honor,

Y tus años al cruel;

10 No sea que extraños se sacien de tu fuerza,

Y tus trabajos estén en casa del extraño;

11 Y gimas al final,

Cuando se consuma tu carne y tu cuerpo,

12 Y digas: ¡Cómo aborrecí el consejo,

Y mi corazón menospreció la reprensión;

13 No oí la voz de los que me instruían,

Y a los que me enseñaban no incliné mi oído!

14 Casi en todo mal he estado,

En medio de la sociedad y de la congregación.

15 Bebe el agua de tu misma cisterna,

Y los raudales de tu propio pozo.

16 ¿Se derramarán tus fuentes por las calles,

Y tus corrientes de aguas por las plazas?

17 Sean para ti solo,

Y no para los extraños contigo.

18 Sea bendito tu manantial,

Y alégrate con la mujer de tu juventud,

19 Como cierva amada y graciosa gacela.

Sus caricias te satisfagan en todo tiempo,

Y en su amor recréate siempre.

20 ¿Y por qué, hijo mío, andarás ciego con la mujer ajena,

Y abrazarás el seno de la extraña?

21 Porque los caminos del hombre están ante los ojos de Jehová,

Y él considera todas sus veredas.

22 Prenderán al impío sus propias iniquidades,

Y retenido será con las cuerdas de su pecado.

23 Él morirá por falta de corrección,

Y errará por lo inmenso de su locura.

Warning Against Adultery

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

And (M)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your (N)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you (O)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, (P)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart (Q)despised reproof!
13 I 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.”

15 Drink (S)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16 Should 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.
18 Let 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.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with (AB)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of (AC)an adulteress?[e]
21 For (AD)a man's ways are (AE)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he (AF)ponders[f] all his paths.
22 The (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.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
  2. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew palate
  3. Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
  4. Proverbs 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
  5. Proverbs 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
  6. Proverbs 5:21 Or makes level

My son, be attentive to my Wisdom [godly Wisdom learned by actual and costly experience], and incline your ear to my understanding [of what is becoming and prudent for you],

That you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion and your lips may guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer [to temptation].

For the lips of a loose woman drip honey as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil;(A)

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged and devouring sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead).

She loses sight of and walks not in the path of life; her ways wind about aimlessly, and you cannot know them.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Let your way in life be far from her, and come not near the door of her house [avoid the very scenes of temptation],(B)

Lest you give your honor to others and your years to those without mercy,

10 Lest strangers [and false teachings] take their fill of your strength and wealth and your labors go to the house of an alien [from God]—

11 And you groan and mourn when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed,

12 And you say, How I hated instruction and discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor submitted and consented to those who instructed me.

14 [The extent and boldness of] my sin involved almost all evil [in the estimation] of the congregation and the community.

15 [a]Drink waters out of your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship], and fresh running waters out of your own well.

16 Should your offspring be dispersed abroad as water brooks in the streets?

17 [Confine yourself to your own wife] let your children be for you alone, and not the children of strangers with you.

18 Let your fountain [of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe [tender, gentle, attractive]—let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love.

20 Why should you, my son, be infatuated with a loose woman, embrace the bosom of an outsider, and go astray?

21 For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, and He [Who would have us live soberly, chastely, and godly] carefully weighs all man’s goings.(C)

22 His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin.

23 He will die for lack of discipline and instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray and be lost.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:15 All of the Ten Commandments are reflected in the book of Proverbs; here it is the seventh, “You shall not commit adultery.”