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Proverbs 5:14-16
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 5:14-16
New Catholic Bible
14 Now I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the public assembly.”[a]
Rejoice in the Wife of Your Youth[b]
15 Drink the water from your own cistern,
fresh water from your own well.[c]
16 Do not allow your springs[d] to overflow,
gushing forth water into the streets.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:14 The man who gave in to an adulteress was wont to suffer financial as well as physical ruin; his action brought him “beatings and contempt” (Prov 6:33) and possibly a condemnation to death (see Deut 22:22).
- Proverbs 5:15 True fidelity knows how to rediscover the happiness of first love. Proverbs has a beautiful idea of marriage.
- Proverbs 5:15 Your own cistern . . . your own well: a reference to the wife. Wells and cisterns were privately owned and had great value (see 2 Ki 18:31; Jer 38:6).
- Proverbs 5:16 Springs: these also refer to the wife as does “fountain” in verse 18 (see Song 4:12, 15).
