Proverbs 6:20–35

Warning against Adultery

²⁰Do what your father tells you, my son, and never forget what your mother taught you. ²¹Keep their words with you always, locked in your heart. ²²Their teaching will lead you when you travel, protect you at night, and advise you during the day. ²³Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live. ²⁴It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men’s wives. ²⁵Don’t be tempted by their beauty; don’t be trapped by their flirting eyes. ²⁶A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.

²⁷Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? ²⁸Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet? ²⁹It is just as dangerous to sleep with another man’s wife. Whoever does it will suffer. ³⁰People don’t despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry;^{e 31}yet if he is caught, he must pay back seven times more—he must give up everything he has. ³²But a man who commits adultery hasn’t any sense. He is just destroying himself. ³³He will be dishonoured and beaten up; he will be permanently disgraced. ³⁴A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits. ³⁵He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.