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
Proverbs 6:20-35
New American Standard Bible
20 (A)My son, comply with the commandment of your father,
And do not ignore the [a]teaching of your mother;
21 (B)Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you (C)walk, [b]they will guide you;
When you sleep, [c]they will watch over you;
And when you awake, [d]they will talk to you.
23 For (D)the commandment is a lamp and the [e]teaching is light;
And rebukes for discipline are the way of life
24 To (E)keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 (F)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her (G)eyelids.
26 For (H)the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread,
And [f]an adulteress (I)hunts for a precious life.
27 Can anyone take fire in his lap
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a person walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who (J)goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her (K)will not [g]go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
To (L)satisfy [h]himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must (M)repay seven times as much;
He must give up all the property of his house.
32 One who commits adultery with a woman is (N)lacking [i]sense;
He who would (O)destroy [j]himself commits it.
33 He will find wounds and disgrace,
And his shame will not be removed.
34 For (P)jealousy [k]enrages a man,
And he will not have compassion on the (Q)day of vengeance.
35 He will not [l]accept any settlement,
Nor will he be [m]satisfied though you make it a large gift.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:20 Or law
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:22 Lit she
- Proverbs 6:23 Or law
- Proverbs 6:26 Lit a man’s wife
- Proverbs 6:29 Lit be innocent
- Proverbs 6:30 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit heart
- Proverbs 6:32 Lit his soul
- Proverbs 6:34 Lit is the rage of
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit lift up the face of any
- Proverbs 6:35 Lit willing
Proverbs 6:20-35
Common English Bible
Danger of adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command;
don’t abandon your mother’s instruction.
21 Bind them on your heart for all time;
fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk around, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will protect you;
when you awake, they will occupy your attention.
23 The commandment is a lamp and instruction a light;
corrective teaching is the path of life.
24 They guard you from the evil woman,
from the flattering tongue of the foreign woman.
25 Don’t desire her beauty in secret;
don’t let her take you in with her eyelashes,
26 for a prostitute costs a loaf of bread,[a]
but a married woman hunts for a man’s very life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
and his clothes not get burned?
28 If a man walks on hot coals,
don’t his feet get burned?
29 So is the man who approaches his neighbor’s wife;
anyone who touches her will be punished.
30 People don’t despise a thief if he steals
to fill his starving stomach.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold;
he must give all the riches of his house.
32 He who commits adultery is senseless.
Doing so, he destroys himself.
33 He is wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be wiped away.
34 Jealousy makes a man rage;
he’ll show no mercy on his day of revenge.
35 He won’t accept compensation;
he’ll refuse even a large bribe.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:26 Heb uncertain
Proverbs 7
New American Standard Bible
The Lures of the Prostitute
7 My son, (A)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (B)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [a]teaching (C)as the [b]apple of your eye.
3 (D)Bind them on your fingers;
(E)Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend,
5 So that they may keep you from an [c]adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For (F)at the window of my house
I looked out (G)through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the (H)naive,
And discerned among the [d]youths
A young man (I)lacking [e]sense,
8 Passing through the street near (J)her corner;
And he walks along the way to (K)her house,
9 In the (L)twilight, in the [f]evening,
In the [g]middle of the night and the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
(M)Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
11 She is (N)boisterous and rebellious,
Her (O)feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now (P)in the public squares,
And (Q)lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him,
[h]And with a (R)brazen face she says to him:
14 “[i]I was due to offer (S)peace offerings;
Today I have (T)paid my vows.
15 Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with (U)coverings,
With colored (V)linens of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
With (W)myrrh, aloes, and (X)cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning;
Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
19 For [j]my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey.
20 He has taken a (Y)bag of money [k]with him.
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her [l](Z)flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as [m]one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a (AA)bird hurries to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, (AB)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart (AC)turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the [n]victims she has brought to ruin,
And (AD)numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
27 Her (AE)house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:2 Or law
- Proverbs 7:2 Lit pupil
- Proverbs 7:5 Lit strange woman
- Proverbs 7:7 Lit sons
- Proverbs 7:7 Lit heart
- Proverbs 7:9 Lit evening of the day
- Proverbs 7:9 Lit pupil (of the eye)
- Proverbs 7:13 Lit She makes bold her face and says
- Proverbs 7:14 Lit Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me
- Proverbs 7:19 Lit the man
- Proverbs 7:20 Lit in his hand
- Proverbs 7:21 Lit smooth
- Proverbs 7:22 Or as a stag goes into a trap; as in some ancient versions, Heb is uncertain
- Proverbs 7:26 Lit wounded
Proverbs 7
Common English Bible
Avoid loose women
7 My son, keep my words;
store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
and my instruction like the pupil of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
call understanding “friend,”
5 so she might guard you against the mysterious woman,
from the foreign woman who flatters you.
6 When from the window of my house,
from behind the screen, I gazed down,
7 I looked among the naive young men
and noticed among the youth, one who had no sense.
8 He was crossing the street at her corner
and walked down the path to her house
9 in the early evening,
at the onset of night and darkness.
10 All of a sudden a woman approaches him,
dressed like a prostitute and with a cunning mind.
11 She is noisy and defiant;
her feet don’t stay long in her own house.
12 She has one foot in the street, one foot in the public square.
She lies in wait at every corner.
13 She grabs him and kisses him.
Her face is brazen as she speaks to him:
14 “I’ve made a sacrifice of well-being;
today I fulfilled my solemn promises.
15 So I’ve come out to meet you,
seeking you, and I have found you.
16 I’ve spread my bed with luxurious covers,
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I’ve sprinkled my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deep of love until morning;
let’s savor our lovemaking.
19 For my husband isn’t home;
he’s gone far away.
20 He took a pouch of money with him;
he won’t come home till full moon.”
21 She seduces him with all her talk.
She entices him with her flattery.
22 He goes headlong after her,
like an ox to the slaughter,
like a deer leaping into a trap,[a]
23 until an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird hurrying to the snare,
not aware that it will cost him his life.
24 Now children, listen to me,
and pay attention to my speech.
25 Don’t turn your heart to her ways;
don’t wander down her paths.
26 She has caused many corpses to fall;
she has killed many people.
27 Her house is a path to the grave,[b]
going down to the chambers of death.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:22 Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 7:27 Heb Sheol
Proverbs 22:14
New American Standard Bible
14 The mouth of [a](A)an adulteress is a deep pit;
He who is (B)cursed of the Lord will fall [b]into it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 22:14 Lit strange woman
- Proverbs 22:14 Lit there
Proverbs 22:14
Common English Bible
14 The mouth of a mysterious woman is a deep pit;
those under the Lord’s wrath will fall in it.
Proverbs 30:20
New American Standard Bible
20 This is the way of an (A)adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”
Proverbs 30:20
Common English Bible
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth,
and she says, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible