Proverbs 4:12-5:20

English Standard Version

¹²When you walk, ^(A)your step will not be hampered,
    and ^(B)if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³^(C)Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your ^(D)life.
¹⁴^(E)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they ^(F)cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
    ^(G)and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But ^(H)the path of the righteous is like ^(I)the light of dawn,
    which shines ^(J)brighter and brighter until ^(K)full day.
¹⁹^(L)The way of the wicked is like deep ^(M)darkness;
    they do not know over what they ^(N)stumble.

²⁰^(O)My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹^(P)Let them not escape from your sight;
    ^(Q)keep them within your heart.
²²For they are ^(R)life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their^[a] flesh.
²³Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for ^(S)from it flow ^(T)the springs of life.
²⁴Put away from you ^(U)crooked speech,
    and put ^(V)devious talk far from you.
²⁵^(W)Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶^(X)Ponder^[b] the path of your feet;
    ^(Y)then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷^(Z)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Warning Against Adultery

5 ^(AA)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    ^(AB)incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep ^(AC)discretion,
    and your lips may ^(AD)guard knowledge.
³For the lips of ^(AE)a forbidden^[c] woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[d] is ^(AF)smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is ^(AG)bitter as ^(AH)wormwood,
    ^(AI)sharp as ^(AJ)a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet ^(AK)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[e] Sheol;
⁶she ^(AL)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And ^(AM)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your ^(AN)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you ^(AO)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, ^(AP)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(AQ)despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴^(AR)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink ^(AS)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your ^(AT)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water ^(AU)in the streets?
¹⁷^(AV)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your ^(AW)fountain be blessed,
    and ^(AX)rejoice in ^(AY)the wife of your youth,
¹⁹    a lovely ^(AZ)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts ^(BA)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated^[f] always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^(BB)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of ^(BC)an adulteress?^[g]