Proverbs 5
New American Standard Bible 1995
Pitfalls of Immorality
5 My son, (A)give attention to my wisdom,
(B)Incline your ear to my understanding;
2 That you may (C)observe discretion
And your (D)lips may reserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of an [a](E)adulteress (F)drip honey
And (G)smoother than oil is her [b]speech;
4 But in the end she 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 [c]She does not ponder the (K)path of life;
Her ways are (L)unstable, she (M)does not know it.
7 (N)Now then, my sons, listen to me
And (O)do not depart 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 Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;
10 And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;
11 And you groan at your [d]final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I have (R)hated instruction!
And my heart (S)spurned reproof!
13 “I have not listened to the voice of my (T)teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!
14 “I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
And [e]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your (U)springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (V)fountain be blessed,
And (W)rejoice 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 [f]exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an [g](Z)adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a (AA)foreigner?
21 For the (AB)ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He (AC)watches all his paths.
22 His (AD)own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
23 He will (AE)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:3 Lit strange woman
- Proverbs 5:3 Lit palate
- Proverbs 5:6 Lit That she not watch
- Proverbs 5:11 Or latter
- Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
- Proverbs 5:19 Lit intoxicated
- Proverbs 5:20 Lit strange woman
Proverbs 5
New International Version
Warning Against Adultery
5 My son,(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words(B) of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;(C)
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,(D)
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.(E)
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(F)
7 Now then, my sons, listen(G) to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,(H)
do not go near the door of her house,
9 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?
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:9 Or years
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.