Avoid Seduction

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely[a] to my understanding(A)
so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.(B)
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are[b] smoother than oil,
in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood(C)
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.(D)
Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.(E)
She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

So now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words of my mouth.(F)
Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.(G)
Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.(H)
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely[c] to my mentors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”

Enjoy Marriage

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.(I)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?(J)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.(K)
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—
let her breasts always satisfy you;(L)
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?(M)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,(N)
and He considers all his paths.(O)
22 A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;(P)
he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.(Q)
23 He will die because there is no discipline,(R)
and be lost because of his great stupidity.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:1 Lit wisdom; stretch out your ear
  2. Proverbs 5:3 Lit her palate is
  3. Proverbs 5:13 Lit or turn my ear

Nothing but Sin and Bones

1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;
    listen very closely to the way I see it.
Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;
    what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.

3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
    her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your mouth,
    a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She’s dancing down the perfumed path to Death;
    she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life,
    about who she is or where she’s going.

7-14 So, my friend, listen closely;
    don’t treat my words casually.
Keep your distance from such a woman;
    absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don’t want to squander your wonderful life,
    to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you?
    Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don’t want to end your life full of regrets,
    nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me?
    Why did I reject a disciplined life?
Why didn’t I listen to my mentors,
    or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined!
    I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my life!”

Never Take Love for Granted

15-16 Do you know the saying, “Drink from your own rain barrel,
    draw water from your own spring-fed well”?
It’s true. Otherwise, you may one day come home
    and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.

17-20 Your spring water is for you and you only,
    not to be passed around among strangers.
Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!
    Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—
    don’t ever quit taking delight in her body.
    Never take her love for granted!
Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a prostitute?
    for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?

21-23 Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make;
    he’s aware of every step you take.
The shadow of your sin will overtake you;
    you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.
Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;
    your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.

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.

Footnotes

  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

Conselhos contra o adultério

Filho, preste atenção no que eu digo com a minha sabedoria e compreensão. Então você saberá como se comportar, e as suas palavras mostrarão que você tem conhecimento das coisas. Os lábios da mulher imoral podem ser tão doces como o mel, e os seus beijos, tão suaves como o azeite; porém, quando tudo termina, o que resta é amargura e sofrimento. Ela está descendo para o mundo dos mortos; a estrada em que ela anda é o caminho da morte. Essa mulher não anda na estrada da vida; ela caminha sem rumo, mas não sabe disso.

Agora escute, meu filho, e não esqueça o que eu estou dizendo! Afaste-se desse tipo de mulher. Não chegue nem perto da porta da sua casa! Se não, outros passarão a ter o bom nome que você tinha antes, e você morrerá ainda moço, nas mãos de homens cruéis. 10 Sim, pessoas estranhas tomarão toda a sua riqueza, e o que você ganhou com o seu trabalho acabará nas mãos dos outros. 11 Você ficará gemendo no seu leito de morte enquanto todo o seu corpo vai sendo destruído pouco a pouco. 12 Então você dirá:

— Como eu tinha raiva de conselhos! Nunca aceitei conselhos de ninguém. 13 Não ouvi os meus mestres, nem dei atenção a eles 14 e quase caí na desgraça diante de todos.

15 Seja fiel à sua mulher e dê o seu amor somente a ela. 16 Os filhos que você tiver com outras mulheres não lhe farão nenhum bem. 17 Os seus filhos devem crescer para ajudar você e não para ajudar os outros. 18 Portanto, alegre-se com a sua mulher, seja feliz com a moça com quem você casou, 19 amorosa como uma corça, graciosa como uma cabra selvagem. Que ela cerque você com o seu amor, e que os seus encantos sempre o façam feliz! 20 Filho, por que dar o seu amor a uma mulher imoral? Por que preferir os encantos da mulher de outro homem? 21 Deus sabe por onde você anda e vê tudo o que você faz. 22 As injustiças que um homem mau comete são uma armadilha; ele é apanhado na rede do seu próprio pecado. 23 Morre porque não se controla: a sua grande loucura o levará à cova.