Proverbs 6:20–35

More Advice about Avoiding Adultery

²⁰My son, 

obey the command of your father, 

and do not disregard the teachings of your mother. 

²¹Fasten them on your heart forever. 

Hang them around your neck. 

²²When you walk around, they will lead you. 

When you lie down, they will watch over you. 

When you wake up, they will talk to you 

²³because the command is a lamp, 

the teachings are a light, 

and the warnings from discipline are the path of life 

²⁴to keep you from an evil woman 

and from the smooth talk of a loose woman. 

²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart. 

Do not let her catch you with her eyes. 

²⁶A prostitute’s price is ⸤only⸥ a loaf of bread, 

but a married woman hunts for ⸤your⸥ life itself. 

²⁷Can a man carry fire in his lap 

without burning his clothes? 

²⁸Can anyone walk on red-hot coals 

without burning his feet? 

²⁹So it is with a man who has sex with his neighbor’s wife. 

None who touch her will escape punishment. 

³⁰People do not despise a thief who is hungry 

when he steals to satisfy his appetite, 

³¹but when he is caught, 

he has to repay it seven times. 

He must give up all the possessions in his house. 

³²Whoever commits adultery with a woman has no sense. 

Whoever does this destroys himself. 

³³An adulterous man will find disease^aand dishonor, 

and his disgrace will not be blotted out, 

³⁴because jealousy arouses a husband’s fury. 

The husband will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 

³⁵No amount of money will change his mind. 

The largest bribe will not satisfy him.