Proverbs 5–7

Warning About Adultery

5My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

listen to my words of understanding.

²Be careful to use good sense,

and watch what you say.

³The words of another man’s wife may seem sweet as honey;

they may be as smooth as olive oil.

⁴But in the end she will bring you sorrow,

causing you pain like a two-edged sword.

⁵She is on the way to death;

her steps are headed straight to the grave.

⁶She gives little thought to life.

She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong.

⁷Now, my sons, listen to me,

and don’t ignore what I say.

⁸Stay away from such a woman.

Don’t even go near the door of her house,

⁹or you will give your riches to others,

and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.

¹⁰Strangers will enjoy your wealth,

and what you worked so hard for will go to someone else.

¹¹You will groan at the end of your life

when your health is gone.

¹²Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!

I would not listen to correction!

¹³I would not listen to my teachers

or pay attention to my instructors.

¹⁴I came close to being completely ruined

in front of a whole group of people.”

¹⁵Be faithful to your own wife,

just as you drink water from your own well.

¹⁶Don’t pour your water in the streets;

don’t give your love to just any woman.

¹⁷These things are yours alone

and shouldn’t be shared with strangers.

¹⁸Be happy with the wife you married when you were young.

She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water.

¹⁹She is as lovely and graceful as a deer.

Let her love always make you happy;

let her love always hold you captive.

²⁰My son, don’t be held captive by a woman who takes part in adultery.

Don’t fondle a woman who is not your wife.

²¹The Lord sees everything you do,

and he watches where you go.

²²An evil man will be caught in his wicked ways;

the ropes of his sins will tie him up.

²³He will die because he does not control himself,

and he will be held captive by his foolishness.

Dangers of Being Foolish

6My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else’s loan,

about promising to pay what someone else owes.

²You might get trapped by what you say;

you might be caught by your own words.

³My child, if you have done this and are under your neighbor’s control,

here is how to get free.

Don’t be proud. Go to your neighbor

and beg to be free from your promise.

⁴Don’t go to sleep

or even rest your eyes,

⁵but free yourself like a deer running from a hunter,

like a bird flying away from a trapper.

⁶Go watch the ants, you lazy person.

Watch what they do and be wise.

⁷Ants have no commander,

no leader or ruler,

⁸but they store up food in the summer

and gather their supplies at harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, you lazy person?

When will you get up from sleeping?

¹⁰You sleep a little; you take a nap.

You fold your hands and lie down to rest.

¹¹So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed;

you will have as little as if you had been held up.

¹²Some people are wicked and no good.

They go around telling lies,

¹³winking with their eyes, tapping with their feet,

and making signs with their fingers.

¹⁴They make evil plans in their hearts

and are always starting arguments.

¹⁵So trouble will strike them in an instant;

suddenly they will be so hurt no one can help them.

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates.

There are seven things he cannot stand:

¹⁷a proud look,

a lying tongue,

hands that kill innocent people,

¹⁸a mind that thinks up evil plans,

feet that are quick to do evil,

¹⁹a witness who lies,

and someone who starts arguments among families.

Warning About Adultery

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commands,

and don’t forget your mother’s teaching.

²¹Keep their words in mind forever

as though you had them tied around your neck.

²²They will guide you when you walk.

They will guard you when you sleep.

They will speak to you when you are awake.

²³These commands are like a lamp;

this teaching is like a light.

And the correction that comes from them

will help you have life.

²⁴They will keep you from sinful women

and from the pleasing words of another man’s unfaithful wife.

²⁵Don’t desire her because she is beautiful.

Don’t let her capture you by the way she looks at you.

²⁶A prostitute will treat you like a loaf of bread,

and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.

²⁷You cannot carry hot coals against your chest

without burning your clothes,

²⁸and you cannot walk on hot coals

without burning your feet.

²⁹The same is true if you have sexual relations with another man’s wife.

Anyone who does so will be punished.

³⁰People don’t hate a thief

when he steals because he is hungry.

³¹But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,

and it may cost him everything he owns.

³²A man who takes part in adultery has no sense;

he will destroy himself.

³³He will be beaten up and disgraced,

and his shame will never go away.

³⁴Jealousy makes a husband very angry,

and he will have no pity when he gets revenge.

³⁵He will accept no payment for the wrong;

he will take no amount of money.

The Woman of Adultery

7My son, remember what I say, and treasure my commands.

²Obey my commands, and you will live.

Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes.

³Remind yourself of them;

write them on your heart as if on a tablet.

⁴Treat wisdom as a sister,

and make understanding your closest friend.

⁵Wisdom and understanding will keep you away from adultery,

away from the unfaithful wife and her pleasing words.

⁶Once while I was at the window of my house

I looked out through the shutters

⁷and saw some foolish, young men.

I noticed one of them had no wisdom.

⁸He was walking down the street near the corner

on the road leading to her house.

⁹It was the twilight of the evening;

the darkness of the night was just beginning.

¹⁰Then the woman approached him,

dressed like a prostitute

and planning to trick him.

¹¹She was loud and stubborn

and never stayed at home.

¹²She was always out in the streets or in the city squares,

waiting around on the corners of the streets.

¹³She grabbed him and kissed him.

Without shame she said to him,

¹⁴“I made my fellowship offering and took some of the meat home.

Today I have kept my special promises.

¹⁵So I have come out to meet you;

I have been looking for you and have found you.

¹⁶I have covered my bed

with colored sheets from Egypt.

¹⁷I have made my bed smell sweet

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s make love until morning.

Let’s enjoy each other’s love.

¹⁹My husband is not home;

he has gone on a long trip.

²⁰He took a lot of money with him

and won’t be home for weeks.”

²¹By her clever words she made him give in;

by her pleasing words she led him into doing wrong.

²²All at once he followed her,

like an ox led to the butcher,

like a deer caught in a trap

²³and shot through the liver with an arrow.

Like a bird caught in a trap,

he didn’t know what he did would kill him.

²⁴Now, my sons, listen to me;

pay attention to what I say.

²⁵Don’t let yourself be tricked by such a woman;

don’t go where she leads you.

²⁶She has ruined many good men,

and many have died because of her.

²⁷Her house is on the road to death,

the road that leads down to the grave.