Proverbs 5–7

Chapter 5

Pitfalls of Immorality

¹My son, ^agive attention to my wisdom,

^bIncline your ear to my understanding;

²That you may ^aobserve discretion

And your ^blips may reserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an ^1aadulteress ^bdrip honey

And ^csmoother than oil is her ²speech;

⁴But in the end she is ^abitter as wormwood,

^bSharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet ^ago down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol.

⁶¹She does not ponder the ^apath of life;

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

^7aNow then, my sons, listen to me

And ^bdo not depart from the words of my mouth.

^8aKeep your way far from her

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

⁹Or you will give your vigor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰And strangers will be filled with your strength

And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

¹¹And you groan at your ¹final end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

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

And my heart ^bspurned reproof!

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

Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

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 yours alone

And not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your ^afountain be blessed,

And ^brejoice in the ^cwife of your youth.

¹⁹As a loving ^ahind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be ¹exhilarated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^1aadulteress

And embrace the bosom of a ^bforeigner?

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

And He ^bwatches all his paths.

²²His ^aown iniquities will capture the wicked,

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

²³He will ^adie for lack of instruction,

And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

Chapter 6

Parental Counsel

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

Have ¹given a 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 importune 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 a ¹vagabond

And your need like ²an armed man.

¹²A ^aworthless 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 strife.

¹⁵Therefore ^ahis calamity will come suddenly;

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

¹⁶There are six things which the Lord hates,

Yes, seven which are an abomination ¹to Him:

^17aHaughty eyes, a ^blying tongue,

And hands that ^cshed innocent blood,

¹⁸A heart that devises ^awicked plans,

^bFeet that run rapidly to evil,

¹⁹A ^afalse witness who utters lies,

And one who ^1bspreads strife among brothers.

^20aMy son, observe the commandment of your father

And do not forsake the ¹teaching of your mother;

^21aBind them continually on your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

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

When you sleep, they will watch over you;

And when you awake, they will talk to you.

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

And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

²⁴To ^akeep you from the evil woman,

From the smooth tongue of the ¹adulteress.

^25aDo not desire her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her capture you with her ^beyelids.

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

And ¹an adulteress ^bhunts for the precious life.

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 ^asatisfy 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 ¹sense;

He who would ^bdestroy ²himself 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,

Nor will he be ²satisfied though you give many ³gifts.

Chapter 7

The Wiles of the Harlot

¹My son, ^akeep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

^2aKeep my commandments and live,

And my ¹teaching ^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;

⁵That they may keep you from an ¹adulteress,

From the foreigner who ²flatters with her words.

⁶For ^aat the window of my house

I looked out ^bthrough my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the ^1anaive,

And discerned among the ²youths

A young man ^blacking ³sense,

⁸Passing through the street near ^aher corner;

And he ¹takes the way to ^bher house,

⁹In the ^atwilight, in the ¹evening,

In the ²middle of the night and in the darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

^aDressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is ^aboisterous and rebellious,

Her ^bfeet do not remain at home;

¹²She is now in the streets, now ^ain the squares,

And ^blurks by every corner.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him

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

¹⁴“¹I was due to offer ^apeace offerings;

Today I have ^bpaid my vows.

¹⁵“Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence 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, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

¹⁹“For ¹my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a ^abag of money ¹with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her ^1aflattering lips she seduces him.

²²Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

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

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a ^abird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now therefore, my sons, ^alisten to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart ^aturn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

²⁶For many are the ¹victims she has cast down,

And ^anumerous are all her slain.

²⁷Her ^ahouse is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.