Proverbs 5
New American Standard Bible
Pitfalls of Immorality
5 My son, (A)pay attention to my wisdom,
(B)Incline your ear to my understanding,
2 So that you may (C)maintain discretion
And your (D)lips may comply with knowledge.
3 For the lips of an [a](E)adulteress (F)drip honey,
And her [b]speech is (G)smoother than oil;
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 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 Otherwise 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 possessions will go to the house of a foreigner;
11 And you will groan [d]in [e]the end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I (R)hated instruction!
And my heart (S)disdainfully rejected rebuke!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my (T)teachers,
Nor incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And [f]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your (U)springs overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
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 Like a loving (Y)doe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be [g]exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an [h](Z)adulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a (AA)foreigner?
21 For the (AB)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He (AC)observes all his paths.
22 His (AD)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will (AE)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness 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 at
- Proverbs 5:11 Lit your end
- Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
- Proverbs 5:19 Lit intoxicated
- Proverbs 5:20 Lit strange woman
Proverbs 5
Common English Bible
Avoid the mysterious woman
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom.
Bend your ear to what I know,
2 so you might remain discreet,
and your lips might guard knowledge.
3 The lips of a mysterious woman drip honey,
and her tongue is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead to the grave.[a]
6 She doesn’t stay on the way of life.
Her paths wander, but she doesn’t know it.
7 Now sons, listen to me,
and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth.
8 Stay on a path that is far from her;
don’t approach the entrance to her house.
9 Otherwise, you will give your strength to others,
your years to a cruel person.
10 Otherwise, strangers will sap your strength,
and your hard work will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 You will groan at the end
when your body and flesh are exhausted,
12 and you say, “How I hated instruction!
How my heart despised correction!
13 I didn’t listen to the voice of my instructor.
I didn’t obey my teacher.
14 I’m on the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled community.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
gushing water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains flood outside,
streams of water in the public squares?
17 They are yours alone,
not for you as well as strangers.
18 May your spring be blessed.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 She is a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts intoxicate you all the time;
always be drunk on her love.
20 Why, my son, should you lose your senses with a mysterious woman
and embrace the breasts of a foreign female?
21 The Lord’s eyes watch over every person’s path,
observing all their ways.
22 The wicked will be caught by their own evil acts,
grabbed by the ropes of their own sin.
23 Those without instruction will die,
misled by their own stupidity.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:5 Heb Sheol
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible