Proverbs 5
Lexham English Bible
5 My child, be attentive to my wisdom,
and to my understanding incline your ear;
2 in order to keep prudence,
and knowledge will guard your lips.
3 For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
and smoother than oil is her mouth.[a]
4 But her end is bitter as the wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold of Sheol.[b]
6 She does not observe[c] the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
Do Not Commit Adultery Against Wisdom
7 Now, O children, listen to me;
do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.
8 Keep your paths far from her,
and do not go near to the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to the others,
and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and you groan at your end,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and say “How I hated discipline,
and I despised reproof!”
13 and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost at utter[d] ruin[e]
in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
and flowing waters from inside your own well.
16 Shall your springs be scattered outward?
In the streets, shall there be streams of water?
17 May they be yours alone,
and not for strangers who are with you.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife[f] of your youth.
19 She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;
may her breasts satisfy you always;[g]
by her love may you be intoxicated continually.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,[h]
and all his paths he examines.
22 His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,
and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.
23 He shall die for lack of[i] discipline,
and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:3 Or “palate”
- Proverbs 5:5 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
- Proverbs 5:6 Or “examine, weigh”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “all, every, whole”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “evil”
- Proverbs 5:18 Or “woman”
- Proverbs 5:19 Literally “at all time”
- Proverbs 5:21 Literally “the ways of man/humankind”
- Proverbs 5:23 Literally “with there is no”
Proverbs 5
Expanded Bible
Warning About Adultery
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
·listen [L bend your ear] to my words of understanding.
2 ·Be careful to use good sense [or So you might keep discrete]
and ·watch what you say [L your lips might protect knowledge].
3 The ·words of another man’s wife [lips of an immoral/L strange woman] may ·seem sweet as [L drip like] honey;
·they [L her tongue/palette] may be as smooth as olive oil.
4 But in the end she ·will bring you sorrow [L is bitter like wormwood],
·causing you pain [L sharp] like a two-edged sword.
5 ·She is on the way [L Her feet go down] to death;
her steps ·are headed straight [or grab on] to ·the grave [L Sheol].
6 She gives little thought to the path of life.
·She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong [L Her paths wander and she does not even realize it].
7 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t ·ignore what I say [L turn aside from the speeches of my mouth].
8 ·Stay away from such a woman [L Keep your path far from her].
Don’t even go near the ·door [entrance] of her house,
9 or you will give your ·riches [honor; or vitality; vigor] to others,
and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
10 Strangers will ·enjoy your wealth [or sap your strength],
and what you worked so hard for will ·go to someone else [L end up in the house of a foreigner].
11 You will groan at the end of your life
when your ·health is gone [L body and flesh are exhausted].
12 Then you will say, “I hated ·being told what to do [instruction; discipline]!
·I would not listen to [L My heart despised] correction!
13 I would not listen to my teachers
or ·pay attention [extend my heart] to my instructors.
14 I ·came [or am] close to being completely ruined
in front of ·a whole group of people [L the assembled congregation].”
15 ·Be faithful to your own wife [L Drink water from your own well; Song 4:10–15],
·just as you drink [L gushing] water from your own ·well [cistern].
16 Don’t ·pour your water in the streets [L let your fountains burst forth outside];
·don’t give your love to just any woman [L streams of water in the public squares].
17 These things are yours alone
and shouldn’t be shared with strangers.
18 ·Be happy with the wife you married when you were young [L Rejoice in the wife of your youth].
·She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water [L May your spring be blessed].
19 She is a lovely deer and a graceful doe.
Let her ·love [or breasts] always make you happy;
let her love always ·hold you captive [intoxicate/inebriate you; Song 4:10].
20 My son, ·don’t be held captive [L why should you be intoxicated/inebriated…?] by a ·woman who takes part in adultery [L stranger].
Don’t fondle the bosom of a ·woman who is not your wife [L foreigner].
21 The ·Lord sees everything you do [L eyes of the Lord are on the path of every person],
and he watches ·where you go [L all their ways].
22 An evil man will be ·caught [captured] in his wicked ways;
the ropes of his sins will tie him up.
23 He will die ·because he does not control himself [L without discipline/instruction],
and he will be ·held captive [or intoxicated; inebriated] by his ·foolishness [stupidity].
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