Proverbs 5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Avoid Seduction
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely[a] to my understanding(A)
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.(B)
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are[b] smoother than oil,
4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood(C)
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.(D)
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.(E)
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words of my mouth.(F)
8 Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.(G)
9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.(H)
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely[c] to my mentors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”
Enjoy Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.(I)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?(J)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.(K)
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—
let her breasts always satisfy you;(L)
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?(M)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,(N)
and He considers all his paths.(O)
22 A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;(P)
he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.(Q)
23 He will die because there is no discipline,(R)
and be lost because of his great stupidity.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:1 Lit wisdom; stretch out your ear
- Proverbs 5:3 Lit her palate is
- Proverbs 5:13 Lit or turn my ear
Proverbs 5
Contemporary English Version
Be Faithful to Your Wife
5 My son, if you listen closely
to my wisdom and good sense,
2 you will have sound judgment,
and you will always know
the right thing to say.
3 The words of an immoral woman
may be as sweet as honey
and as smooth as olive oil.
4 But all that you really get
from being with her
is bitter poison and pain.
5 If you follow her,
she will lead you down
to the world of the dead.
6 She has missed the path
that leads to life
and doesn't even know it.
7 My son, listen to me
and do everything I say.
8 Stay away from a bad woman!
Don't even go near the door
of her house.
9 You will lose your self-respect
and end up in debt
to some cruel person
for the rest of your life.
10 Strangers will get your money
and everything else
you have worked for.
11 When it's all over,
your body will waste away,
as you groan 12 and shout,
“I hated advice and correction!
13 I paid no attention
to my teachers,
14 and now I am disgraced
in front of everyone.”
15 You should be faithful
to your wife,
just as you take water
from your own well.[a]
16 And don't be like a stream
from which just any woman
may take a drink.
17 Save yourself for your wife
and don't have sex
with other women.
18 Be happy with the wife
you married
when you were young.
19 She is beautiful and graceful,
just like a deer;
you should be attracted to her
and stay deeply in love.
20 Don't go crazy over a woman
who is unfaithful
to her own husband!
21 The Lord sees everything,
and he watches us closely.
22 Sinners are trapped and caught
by their own evil deeds.
23 They get lost and die
because of their foolishness
and lack of self-control.
Footnotes
- 5.15 own well: In biblical times water was scarce and wells were carefully guarded.
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