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Proverbs 5-7
Easy-to-Read Version
Proverbs 5-7
Easy-to-Read Version
The Wisdom of Avoiding Adultery
5 Son, listen to this piece of wisdom from me. Pay attention to what I know to be true. 2 Remember to live wisely, and what you learn will keep your lips from saying the wrong thing. 3 Now, another man’s wife might be very charming, and the words from her lips so sweet and inviting. 4 But in the end, she will bring only bitterness and pain. It will be like bitter poison and a sharp sword. 5 She is on a path leading to death, and she will lead you straight to the grave. 6 Don’t follow her. She has lost her way and does not even know it. Be careful. Stay on the road that leads to life.
7 Now, my sons, listen to me. Don’t forget the words I say. 8 Stay away from the woman who commits adultery. Don’t even go near her house. 9 If you do, others will get the honor you should have had. Some stranger will get everything you worked years to get. 10 People you don’t know will take all your wealth. Others will get what you worked for. 11 At the end of your life, you will be sad that you ruined your health and lost everything you had. 12-13 Then you will say, “Why didn’t I listen to my parents? Why didn’t I pay attention to my teachers? I didn’t want to be disciplined. I refused to be corrected. 14 So now I have suffered through just about every kind of trouble anyone can have, and everyone knows it.”
15 Now, about sex and marriage: Drink only the water that comes from your own well, 16 and don’t let your water flow out into the streets. 17 Keep it for yourself, and don’t share it with strangers. 18 Be happy with your own wife. Enjoy the woman you married while you were young. 19 She is like a beautiful deer, a lovely fawn. Let her love satisfy you completely. Stay drunk on her love, 20 and don’t go stumbling into the arms of another woman.
21 The Lord clearly sees everything you do. He watches where you go. 22 The sins of the wicked will trap them. Those sins will be like ropes holding them back. 23 Evil people will die because they refuse to be disciplined. They will be trapped by their own desires.
Dangers of Debt
6 My son, don’t make yourself responsible for the debts of others. Don’t make such deals with friends or strangers. 2 If you do, your words will trap you. 3 You will be under the power of other people, so you must go and free yourself. Beg them to free you from that debt. 4 Don’t wait to rest or sleep. 5 Escape from that trap like a deer running from a hunter. Free yourself like a bird flying from a trap.
The Dangers of Being Lazy
6 You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them. 7 Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader. 8 But in the summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat.
9 You lazy people, how long are you going to lie there? When will you get up? 10 You say, “I need a rest. I think I’ll take a short nap.” 11 But then you sleep and sleep and become poorer and poorer. Soon you will have nothing. It will be as if a thief came and stole everything you owned.
Troublemakers
12 Some people are just troublemakers. They are always thinking up some crooked plan and telling lies. 13 They use secret signals to cheat people; they wink their eyes, shuffle their feet, and point a finger. 14 They are always planning to do something bad. 15 But they will be punished. Disaster will strike, and they will be destroyed. There will be no one to help them.
What the Lord Hates
16 The Lord hates these seven things:
17 eyes that show pride,
tongues that tell lies,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 hearts that plan evil things to do,
feet that run to do evil,
19 witnesses in court who tell lies,
and anyone who causes family members to fight.
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son, remember your father’s command, and don’t forget your mother’s teaching. 21 Remember their words always. Tie them around your neck and keep them over your heart. 22 Let this teaching lead you wherever you go. It will watch over you while you sleep. And when you wake up, it will give you good advice.
23 Your parents give you commands and teachings that are like lights to show you the right way. This teaching corrects you and trains you to follow the path to life. 24 It stops you from going to an evil woman, and it protects you from the smooth talk of another man’s wife. 25 Such a woman might be beautiful, but don’t let that beauty tempt you. Don’t let her eyes capture you. 26 A prostitute might cost a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man could cost you your life. 27 If you drop a hot coal in your lap, your clothes will be burned. 28 If you step on one, your feet will be burned. 29 If you sleep with another man’s wife, you will be punished.
30-31 A hungry man might steal to fill his stomach. If he is caught, he must pay seven times more than he stole. It might cost him everything he owns, but other people understand. They don’t lose all their respect for him. 32 But a man who commits adultery is a fool. He brings about his own destruction. 33 He will suffer disease and disgrace and never be free from the shame. 34 The woman’s husband will be jealous and angry and do everything he can to get revenge. 35 No payment—no amount of money—will stop him.
Wisdom Will Keep You From Adultery
7 My son, remember my words. Don’t forget what I have told you. 2 Consider my teaching as precious as your own eyes. Obey my commands, and you will have a good life. 3 Tie them around your finger. Write them on your heart. 4 Treat wisdom like the woman you love and knowledge like the one dearest to you. 5 Wisdom will save you from that other woman, the other man’s wife, who tempts you with such sweet words.
6 One day I was looking out my window 7 at some foolish teenagers and noticed one who had no sense at all. 8 He was walking through the marketplace and came to the corner where a certain woman lived. He then turned up the road that goes by her house. 9 The day was ending. The sun had set, and it was almost dark. 10 Suddenly, there she was in front of him, dressed like a prostitute. She had plans for him. 11 She was a wild and rebellious woman who would not stay at home. 12 She walked the streets, always looking for someone to trap. 13 She grabbed the young man and kissed him. Without shame, she looked him in the eye and said, 14 “I offered a fellowship offering today. I gave what I promised to give, 15 and I still have plenty of food left. So I came out to find you, and here you are! 16 I have clean sheets on my bed—special ones from Egypt. 17 My bed smells wonderful with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s enjoy ourselves all night. We can make love until dawn. 19 My husband has gone on a business trip. 20 He took enough money for a long trip and won’t be home for two weeks.[a]”
21 This is what the woman said to tempt the young man, and her smooth words tricked him. 22 He followed her, like a bull being led to the slaughter. He was like a deer walking into a trap, 23 where a hunter waits to shoot an arrow through its heart. The boy was like a bird flying into a net, never seeing the danger he was in.
24 Now, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. 25 Don’t let your heart lead you to an evil woman like that. Don’t go where she wants to lead you. 26 She has brought down some of the most powerful men; she has left many dead bodies in her path. 27 Her house is the place of death. The road to it leads straight to the grave.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:20 won’t be … weeks Literally, “will not come home until the full moon.” The fellowship offering (see verse 14) was usually at the time of the new moon, the first day of the Hebrew month, which was two weeks before the full moon.
Proverbs 5-7
New International Version
Proverbs 5-7
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?
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
6 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,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 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!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.(AA)
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle(AB) from the hand of the hunter,(AC)
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(AD)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;(AE)
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer(AF)
and gathers its food at harvest.(AG)
9 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)
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son,(AZ) keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(BA)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.(BB)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,(BC)
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,(BD)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(BE)
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(BF)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(BG) with another man’s wife;(BH)
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(BI)
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(BJ) has no sense;(BK)
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never(BL) be wiped away.
34 For jealousy(BM) arouses a husband’s fury,(BN)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.(BO)
Warning Against the Adulterous Woman
7 My son,(BP) keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;(BQ)
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.(BR)
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.(BS)
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.(BT)
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight,(BU) as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly(BV) and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)(BW)
13 She took hold of him(BX) and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:(BY)
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering(BZ) at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed(CA)
with myrrh,(CB) aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!(CC)
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.(CD)
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[c] stepping into a noose[d](CE)
23 till an arrow pierces(CF) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.(CG)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:9 Or years
- Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,
- Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
- Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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