Proverbs 5
New Century Version
Warning About Adultery
5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen to my words of understanding.
2 Be careful to use good sense,
and watch what you say.
3 The words of another man’s wife may seem sweet as honey;
they may be as smooth as olive oil.
4 But in the end she will bring you sorrow,
causing you pain like a two-edged sword.
5 She is on the way to death;
her steps are headed straight to the grave.
6 She gives little thought to life.
She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong.
7 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t ignore what I say.
8 Stay away from such a woman.
Don’t even go near the door of her house,
9 or you will give your riches to others,
and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
10 Strangers will enjoy your wealth,
and what you worked so hard for will go to someone else.
11 You will groan at the end of your life
when your health is gone.
12 Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!
I would not listen to correction!
13 I would not listen to my teachers
or pay attention to my instructors.
14 I came close to being completely ruined
in front of a whole group of people.”
15 Be faithful to your own wife,
just as you drink water from your own well.
16 Don’t pour your water in the streets;
don’t give your love to just any woman.
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.
She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water.
19 She is as lovely and graceful as a deer.
Let her love always make you happy;
let her love always hold you captive.
20 My son, don’t be held captive by a woman who takes part in adultery.
Don’t fondle a woman who is not your wife.
21 The Lord sees everything you do,
and he watches where you go.
22 An evil man will be caught in his wicked ways;
the ropes of his sins will tie him up.
23 He will die because he does not control himself,
and he will be held captive by his foolishness.
Proverbs 6:20-35
New Century Version
Warning About Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s commands,
and don’t forget your mother’s teaching.
21 Keep their words in mind forever
as though you had them tied around your neck.
22 They will guide you when you walk.
They will guard you when you sleep.
They will speak to you when you are awake.
23 These commands are like a lamp;
this teaching is like a light.
And the correction that comes from them
will help you have life.
24 They will keep you from sinful women
and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.
25 Don’t desire her because she is beautiful.
Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.
26 A prostitute will treat you like a loaf of bread,
and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest
without burning your clothes,
28 and you cannot walk on hot coals
without burning your feet.
29 The same is true if you have sexual relations with another man’s wife.
Anyone who does so will be punished.
30 People don’t hate a thief
when he steals because he is hungry.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
and it may cost him everything he owns.
32 A man who takes part in adultery has no sense;
he will destroy himself.
33 He will be beaten up and disgraced,
and his shame will never go away.
34 Jealousy makes a husband very angry,
and he will have no pity when he gets revenge.
35 He will accept no payment for the wrong;
he will take no amount of money.
Proverbs 7
New Century Version
The Woman of Adultery
7 My son, remember what I say, and treasure my commands.
2 Obey my commands, and you will live.
Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes.
3 Remind yourself of them;
write them on your heart as if on a tablet.
4 Treat wisdom as a sister,
and make understanding your closest friend.
5 Wisdom and understanding will keep you away from adultery,
away from the unfaithful wife and her pleasing words.
6 Once while I was at the window of my house
I looked out through the shutters
7 and saw some foolish, young men.
I noticed one of them had no wisdom.
8 He was walking down the street near the corner
on the road leading to her house.
9 It was the twilight of the evening;
the darkness of the night was just beginning.
10 Then the woman approached him,
dressed like a prostitute
and planning to trick him.
11 She was loud and stubborn
and never stayed at home.
12 She was always out in the streets or in the city squares,
waiting around on the corners of the streets.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him.
Without shame she said to him,
14 “I made my fellowship offering and took some of the meat home.
Today I have kept my special promises.
15 So I have come out to meet you;
I have been looking for you and have found you.
16 I have covered my bed
with colored sheets from Egypt.
17 I have made my bed smell sweet
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s make love until morning.
Let’s enjoy each other’s love.
19 My husband is not home;
he has gone on a long trip.
20 He took a lot of money with him
and won’t be home for weeks.”
21 By her clever words she made him give in;
by her pleasing words she led him into doing wrong.
22 All at once he followed her,
like an ox led to the butcher,
like a deer caught in a trap
23 and shot through the liver with an arrow.
Like a bird caught in a trap,
he didn’t know what he did would kill him.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Don’t let yourself be tricked by such a woman;
don’t go where she leads you.
26 She has ruined many good men,
and many have died because of her.
27 Her house is on the road to death,
the road that leads down to the grave.
Proverbs 22:14
New Century Version
14 The words of an unfaithful wife are like a deep trap.
Those who make the Lord angry will get caught by them.
Proverbs 30:20
New Century Version
20 “This is the way of a woman who takes part in adultery:
She acts as if she had eaten and washed her face;
she says, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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