Proverbs 6:20–35

Commandment and Instruction as Guardians

²⁰My child, keep the commandment of your father,

and do not disregard the instruction of your mother.

²¹Bind them on your heart continually;

tie them upon your neck.

²²When you walk,^k she^l will lead you,

When you lie down,^m she will watch over you,

and when you awake, she will converse with you.

²³For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,

and the way of lifeⁿ is the reproof of discipline,

²⁴in order to preserve you from an evil woman,^o

from the smoothness of the tongue of an adulteress.^p

²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart;

may she not capture you with her eyelashes.

²⁶For the price of a woman, a prostitute,^q is the price of a loaf of bread,

but the woman belonging to a man^r hunts precious life.

Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman

²⁷Can a man carry fire in his lap,

and his clothes not burn?

²⁸If a man walks upon the hot coals,

will his feet not be burned?

²⁹Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,

any who touches her shall not go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief when he steals

to fill himself^s when he is hungry.

³¹But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,

every possession of his house he shall give.

³²He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense,^t

he destroys himself^u who does it.

³³A wound and dishonor he will find,

and his disgrace will not be wiped out.

³⁴For jealousy is the fury of a husband,

and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.

³⁵He will not accept any compensation,^v

and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.