Proverbs 5–7

Warning Against Adultery

5My son,^k pay attention to my wisdom,

turn your ear to my words^l of insight,

²that you may maintain discretion

and your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;^m

⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,ⁿ

sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.^o

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^p

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^q to me;

do not turn aside from what I say.

⁸Keep to a path far from her,^r

do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you lose your honor to others

and your dignity^a to one who is cruel,

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth

and your toil enrich the house of another.^s

¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,

when your flesh and body are spent.

¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!

How my heart spurned correction!^t

¹³I would not obey my teachers

or turn my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^u

in the assembly of God’s people.”^v

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,

your streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be yours alone,

never to be shared with strangers.

¹⁸May your fountain^w be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^x

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^y—

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?

Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^z of the Lord,

and he examines^a all your paths.^b

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^c

the cords of their sins hold them fast.^d

²³For lack of discipline they will die,^e

led astray by their own great folly.^f

Warnings Against Folly

6My son,^g if you have put up security^h for your neighbor,ⁱ

if you have shaken hands in pledge^j for a stranger,

²you have been trapped by what you said,

ensnared by the words of your mouth.

³So do this, my son, to free yourself,

since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:

Go—to the point of exhaustion—^a

and give your neighbor no rest!

⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,

no slumber to your eyelids.^k

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^l from the hand of the hunter,^m

like a bird from the snare of the fowler.ⁿ

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^o

consider its ways and be wise!

⁷It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,

⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^p

and gathers its food at harvest.^q

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^r

When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest^s—

¹¹and poverty^t will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,

who goes about with a corrupt mouth,

¹³who winks maliciously with his eye,^u

signals with his feet

and motions with his fingers,^v

¹⁴who plots evil^w with deceit in his heart—

he always stirs up conflict.^x

¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^y

he will suddenly^z be destroyed—without remedy.^a

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^b

seven that are detestable to him:

¹⁷haughty eyes,^c

a lying tongue,^d

hands that shed innocent blood,^e

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,^f

¹⁹a false witness^g who pours out lies^h

and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.ⁱ

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰My son,^j keep your father’s command

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^k

²¹Bind them always on your heart;

fasten them around your neck.^l

²²When you walk, they will guide you;

when you sleep, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

²³For this command is a lamp,

this teaching is a light,^m

and correction and instruction

are the way to life,ⁿ

²⁴keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,

from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.^o

²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,

but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^p

²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap

without his clothes being burned?

²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals

without his feet being scorched?

²⁹So is he who sleeps^q with another man’s wife;^r

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.

³¹Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^s

though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

³²But a man who commits adultery^t has no sense;^u

whoever does so destroys himself.

³³Blows and disgrace are his lot,

and his shame will never^v be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy^w arouses a husband’s fury,^x

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will not accept any compensation;

he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^y

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7My son,^z keep my words

and store up my commands within you.

²Keep my commands and you will live;^a

guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.^b

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and to insight, “You are my relative.”

⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words.^c

⁶At the window of my house

I looked down through the lattice.

⁷I saw among the simple,

I noticed among the young men,

a youth who had no sense.^d

⁸He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

⁹at twilight,^e as the day was fading,

as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

¹¹(She is unruly^f and defiant,

her feet never stay at home;

¹²now in the street, now in the squares,

at every corner she lurks.)^g

¹³She took hold of him^h and kissed him

and with a brazen face she said:ⁱ

¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows,

and I have food from my fellowship offering^j at home.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

¹⁶I have covered my bed

with colored linens from Egypt.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed^k

with myrrh,^l aloes and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;

let’s enjoy ourselves with love!^m

¹⁹My husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He took his purse filled with money

and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;

she seduced him with her smooth talk.ⁿ

²²All at once he followed her

like an ox going to the slaughter,

like a deer^a stepping into a noose^bo

²³till an arrow pierces^p his liver,

like a bird darting into a snare,

little knowing it will cost him his life.^q

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen^r to me;

pay attention to what I say.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways

or stray into her paths.^s

²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;

her slain are a mighty throng.

²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.^t