Proverbs 5
Legacy Standard Bible
Warning Against Adultery
5 My son, (A)pay attention to my wisdom,
(B)Incline your ear to my discernment;
2 That you may (C)keep discretion
And that your (D)lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a (E)strange woman (F)drip honey
And (G)smoother than oil is her [a]speech;
4 But her end is (H)bitter as wormwood,
(I)Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet (J)go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol,
6 Lest she watch the (K)path of life;
Her tracks are (L)unstable, she (M)does not know it.
7 (N)So now, my sons, listen to me
And (O)do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
8 (P)Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the (Q)door of her house,
9 Lest you give your splendor to others
And your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength
And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;
11 And you groan at your [b]end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I have (R)hated discipline!
And my heart (S)spurned reproof!
13 I have not listened to the voice of my (T)instructors,
And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!
14 I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
And [c]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your (U)springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for you alone,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (V)fountain be blessed,
And (W)be glad in the (X)wife of your youth.
19 As a loving (Y)hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be [d]intoxicated always with her love.
20 So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a (Z)strange woman
And embrace the bosom of a (AA)foreign woman?
21 For the (AB)ways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,
And He (AC)watches all his tracks.
22 His (AD)own iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,
And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.
23 He will (AE)die for lack of discipline,
And in the abundance of his [e]folly he will [f]stumble in intoxication.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:3 Lit palate
- Proverbs 5:11 Or latter
- Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
- Proverbs 5:19 Or exhilarated
- Proverbs 5:23 A lack of wisdom due to negligence or carelessness; the activity of an ignorant fool
- Proverbs 5:23 Or go astray
Proverbs 5
Lexham English Bible
5 My child, be attentive to my wisdom,
and to my understanding incline your ear;
2 in order to keep prudence,
and knowledge will guard your lips.
3 For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
and smoother than oil is her mouth.[a]
4 But her end is bitter as the wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold of Sheol.[b]
6 She does not observe[c] the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
Do Not Commit Adultery Against Wisdom
7 Now, O children, listen to me;
do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.
8 Keep your paths far from her,
and do not go near to the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to the others,
and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and you groan at your end,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and say “How I hated discipline,
and I despised reproof!”
13 and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost at utter[d] ruin[e]
in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
and flowing waters from inside your own well.
16 Shall your springs be scattered outward?
In the streets, shall there be streams of water?
17 May they be yours alone,
and not for strangers who are with you.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife[f] of your youth.
19 She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;
may her breasts satisfy you always;[g]
by her love may you be intoxicated continually.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,[h]
and all his paths he examines.
22 His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,
and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.
23 He shall die for lack of[i] discipline,
and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:3 Or “palate”
- Proverbs 5:5 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
- Proverbs 5:6 Or “examine, weigh”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “all, every, whole”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “evil”
- Proverbs 5:18 Or “woman”
- Proverbs 5:19 Literally “at all time”
- Proverbs 5:21 Literally “the ways of man/humankind”
- Proverbs 5:23 Literally “with there is no”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software