Proverbs 5:2–20

²Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. ³The lips of another man’s wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, ⁴but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. ⁵She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death. ⁶She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.

⁷Now listen to me, my sons, and never forget what I am saying. ⁸Keep away from such a woman! Don’t even go near her door! ⁹If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people. ¹⁰Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else. ¹¹You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away, ¹²and you will say, “Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me? ¹³I wouldn’t listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them. ¹⁴And suddenly I found myself^d publicly disgraced.”

¹⁵Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone. ¹⁶Children that you have by other women will do you no good. ¹⁷Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers. ¹⁸So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married- ¹⁹pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. ²⁰Why should you give your love to another woman, my son? Why should you prefer the charms of another man’s wife?