Proverbs 5–7

CHAPTER 5

Warning Against Adultery

¹My son, ^apay attention to my wisdom,

^bIncline your ear to my discernment;

²That you may ^akeep discretion

And that your ^blips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of a ^astrange woman ^bdrip honey

And ^csmoother than oil is her ¹speech;

⁴But her end is ^abitter as wormwood,

^bSharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet ^ago down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol,

⁶Lest she watch the ^apath of life;

Her tracks are ^bunstable, she ^cdoes not know it.

^7aSo now, my sons, listen to me

And ^bdo not turn away from the words of my mouth.

^8aKeep your way far from her

And do not go near the ^bdoor of her house,

⁹Lest you give your splendor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength

And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;

¹¹And you groan at your ¹end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

¹²And you say, “How I have ^ahated discipline!

And my heart ^bspurned reproof!

¹³“I have not listened to the voice of my ^ainstructors,

And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!

¹⁴“I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern

And ¹fresh water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your ^asprings be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be for you alone,

And not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your ^afountain be blessed,

And ^bbe glad in the ^cwife of your youth.

¹⁹As a loving ^ahind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be ¹intoxicated always with her love.

²⁰So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a ^astrange woman

And embrace the bosom of a ^bforeign woman?

²¹For the ^aways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,

And He ^bwatches all his tracks.

²²His ^aown iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,

And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.

²³He will ^adie for lack of discipline,

And in the abundance of his ¹folly he will ²stumble in intoxication.

CHAPTER 6

Practical Warnings

¹My son, if you have become a ^aguarantor for your neighbor,

Have struck your ¹hands in pledge for a stranger,

²If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,

Have been caught with the words of your mouth,

³Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;

Since you have come into the ¹hand of your neighbor,

Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.

⁴Give no ^asleep to your eyes,

Nor slumber to your eyelids;

⁵Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand

And like a ^abird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ^aant, O ^bsluggard,

Observe her ways and be wise,

⁷Which, having ^ano chief,

Officer or ruler,

⁸Prepares her food ^ain the summer

And gathers her provision in the harvest.

⁹How long will you lie down, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

¹⁰“^aA little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to ¹rest”—

^11aYour poverty will come in like ¹a vagabond

And your want like ²an armed man.

¹²A ^avile person, a wicked man,

Is the one who walks with a ^bperverse mouth,

¹³Who ^awinks with his eyes, who ¹signals with his feet,

Who ²points with his fingers;

¹⁴Who with ^aperversity in his heart continually ^bdevises evil,

Who ^1cspreads contentions.

¹⁵Therefore ^ahis disaster will come suddenly;

^bInstantly he will be broken and there will be ^cno healing.

¹⁶There are six things which Yahweh hates,

Even seven which are an abomination ¹to Him:

^17aHaughty eyes, a ^blying tongue,

And hands that ^cshed innocent blood,

¹⁸A heart that devises ^awicked thoughts,

^bFeet that hasten to run to evil,

¹⁹A ^afalse witness who breathes out lies,

And one who ^1bspreads strife among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

^20aMy son, observe the commandment of your father

And do not abandon the ¹law of your mother;

^21aBind them continually on your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

²²When you ^awalk about, ¹they will lead you;

When you sleep, ²they will keep watch over you;

And when you awake, ³they will speak to you.

²³For ^athe commandment is a lamp and the ¹law is light;

And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

²⁴To ^akeep you from the evil woman,

From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.

^25aDo not desire her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her capture you with her ^beyelids.

²⁶For ^aon account of ¹a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,

And ²an adulteress ^bhunts for the precious ³life.

²⁷Can a man ¹take fire in his bosom

And his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can a man walk on hot coals

And his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So is the one who ^agoes in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whoever touches her ^bwill not ¹go unpunished.

³⁰¹Men do not despise a thief if he steals

To ^afill ²himself when he is hungry;

³¹But when he is found, he must ^arepay sevenfold;

He must give all the ¹substance of his house.

³²The one who commits adultery with a woman is ^alacking a heart of wisdom;

He who would ^bdestroy his soul does it.

³³Wounds and disgrace he will find,

And his reproach will not be blotted out.

³⁴For ^ajealousy ¹enrages a man,

And he will not spare in the ^bday of vengeance.

³⁵He will not ¹accept any ransom,

He will not be willing though you give many bribes.

CHAPTER 7

The Adulteress’ Trap

¹My son, ^akeep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

^2aKeep my commandments and live,

And my ¹law ^bas the ²apple of your eye.

^3aBind them on your fingers;

^bWrite them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

⁵In order to keep you from the strange woman,

From the foreign woman who ¹flatters with her words.

⁶For ^aat the window of my house

I looked out ^bthrough my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the ^asimple,

And discerned among the ¹sons

A young man ^blacking a heart of wisdom,

⁸Passing through the street near ^aher corner;

And he strides along the way to ^bher house,

⁹In the ^atwilight, in the evening of that day,

In the ¹middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

^aDressed as a harlot and ¹cunning of heart.

¹¹She is ^aboisterous and rebellious,

Her ^bfeet do not dwell at home;

¹²Stepping in the streets, stepping ^ain the squares,

And near every corner she ^blies in wait.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him

¹And with a ^abrazen face she says to him:

¹⁴“The sacrifices of ^apeace offerings are with me;

Today I ^bpaid my vows.

¹⁵“Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.

¹⁶“I have spread my couch with ^acoverings,

With colored ^blinens of Egypt.

¹⁷“I have sprinkled my bed

With ^amyrrh, aloes, and ^bcinnamon.

¹⁸“Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.

¹⁹“For ¹my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a journey far away;

²⁰He took a ^abag of silver in his hand,

On the day of the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her abundant ¹persuasions she entices him;

With her ^aflattering lips she drives him to herself.

²²He suddenly follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or ¹as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a ^abird hastens to the snare,

And he does not know that it will cost him his ¹soul.

²⁴So now, my sons, ^alisten to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart ^ago astray into her ways,

Do not wander into her pathways.

²⁶For many are the slain whom she has cast down,

And ^anumerous are all those killed by her.

²⁷The ways to Sheol are in her ^ahouse,

Descending to the chambers of death.