Warning Against Adultery

My son,(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words(B) of insight,
that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;(C)
but in the end she is bitter as gall,(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.(E)
She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(F)

Now then, my sons, listen(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
Keep to a path far from her,(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
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?

21 For your ways are in full view(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines(Q) all your paths.(R)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.(T)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.(V)

Warnings Against Folly

My son,(W) if you have put up security(X) for your neighbor,(Y)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge(Z) for a stranger,
you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[b]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.(AA)
Free yourself, like a gazelle(AB) from the hand of the hunter,(AC)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(AD)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;(AE)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(AF)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(AG)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(AH)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(AI)
11 and poverty(AJ) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

12 A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13     who winks maliciously with his eye,(AK)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,(AL)
14     who plots evil(AM) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.(AN)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(AO)
    he will suddenly(AP) be destroyed—without remedy.(AQ)

16 There are six things the Lord hates,(AR)
    seven that are detestable to him:
17         haughty eyes,(AS)
        a lying tongue,(AT)
        hands that shed innocent blood,(AU)
18         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,(AV)
19         a false witness(AW) who pours out lies(AX)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.(AY)

Notas al pie

  1. Proverbs 5:9 Or years
  2. Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

The Peril of Adultery

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
[a]Lend your ear to my understanding,
That you may [b]preserve discretion,
And your lips (A)may keep knowledge.
(B)For the lips of [c]an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is (C)smoother than oil;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death,
(D)Her steps lay hold of [d]hell.
Lest you ponder her path of life—
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.

Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
Lest you give your [e]honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest aliens be filled with your [f]wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11 And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say:
“How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
[g]Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with (E)the wife of your youth.
19 (F)As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be [h]enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by (G)an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

21 (H)For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He [i]ponders all his paths.
22 (I)His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 (J)He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Dangerous Promises

My son, (K)if you become [j]surety for your friend,
If you have [k]shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
(L)Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the [l]fowler.

The Folly of Indolence

(M)Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no [m]captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her [n]supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
(N)How long will you [o]slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 (O)So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
13 (P)He winks with his eyes,
He [p]shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
14 Perversity is in his heart,
(Q)He devises evil continually,
(R)He sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity shall come (S)suddenly;
Suddenly he shall (T)be broken (U)without remedy.

16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to [q]Him:
17 (V)A[r] proud look,
(W)A lying tongue,
(X)Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 (Y)A heart that devises wicked plans,
(Z)Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 (AA)A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who (AB)sows discord among brethren.

Notas al pie

  1. Proverbs 5:1 Lit. Bow
  2. Proverbs 5:2 appreciate good judgment
  3. Proverbs 5:3 Lit. a strange
  4. Proverbs 5:5 Or Sheol
  5. Proverbs 5:9 vigor
  6. Proverbs 5:10 Lit. strength
  7. Proverbs 5:16 Channels
  8. Proverbs 5:19 Lit. intoxicated
  9. Proverbs 5:21 observes, lit. weighs
  10. Proverbs 6:1 guaranty or collateral
  11. Proverbs 6:1 Lit. struck
  12. Proverbs 6:5 One who catches birds in a trap or snare
  13. Proverbs 6:7 Lit. leader
  14. Proverbs 6:8 Lit. bread
  15. Proverbs 6:9 Lit. lie down
  16. Proverbs 6:13 gives signals, lit. scrapes
  17. Proverbs 6:16 Lit. His soul
  18. Proverbs 6:17 Lit. Haughty eyes