Proverbs 5–7

The Peril of Adultery

5My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

¹Lend your ear to my understanding,

²That you may ²preserve discretion,

And your lips ^amay keep knowledge.

^3bFor the lips of ³an immoral woman drip honey,

And her mouth is ^csmoother than oil;

⁴But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death,

^dHer steps lay hold of ⁴hell.

⁶Lest you ponder her path of life—

Her ways are unstable;

You do not know them.

⁷Therefore hear me now, my children,

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her,

And do not go near the door of her house,

⁹Lest you give your ⁵honor to others,

And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰Lest aliens be filled with your ⁶wealth,

And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

¹¹And you mourn at last,

When your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²And say:

“How I have hated instruction,

And my heart despised correction!

¹³I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I was on the verge of total ruin,

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,

⁷Streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be only your own,

And not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed,

And rejoice with ^ethe wife of your youth.

^19fAs a loving deer and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

And always be ⁸enraptured with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be enraptured by ^gan immoral woman,

And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

^21hFor the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And He ⁹ponders all his paths.

²²ⁱHis own iniquities entrap the wicked man,

And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

^23jHe shall die for lack of instruction,

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

Dangerous Promises

6My son, ^aif you become ¹surety for your friend,

If you have ²shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

²You are snared by the words of your mouth;

You are taken by the words of your mouth.

³So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;

For you have come into the hand of your friend:

Go and humble yourself;

Plead with your friend.

^4bGive no sleep to your eyes,

Nor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

And like a bird from the hand of the ³fowler.

The Folly of Indolence

^6cGo to the ant, you sluggard!

Consider her ways and be wise,

⁷Which, having no ⁴captain,

Overseer or ruler,

⁸Provides her ⁵supplies in the summer,

And gathers her food in the harvest.

^9dHow long will you ⁶slumber, O sluggard?

When will you rise from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep—

^11eSo shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,

And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man,

Walks with a perverse mouth;

^13fHe winks with his eyes,

He ⁷shuffles his feet,

He points with his fingers;

¹⁴Perversity is in his heart,

^gHe devises evil continually,

^hHe sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore his calamity shall come ⁱsuddenly;

Suddenly he shall ^jbe broken ^kwithout remedy.

¹⁶These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to ⁸Him:

^17lA ⁹proud look,

^mA lying tongue,

ⁿHands that shed innocent blood,

^18oA heart that devises wicked plans,

^pFeet that are swift in running to evil,

^19qA false witness who speaks lies,

And one who ^rsows discord among brethren.

Beware of Adultery

^20sMy son, keep your father’s command,

And do not forsake the law of your mother.

^21tBind them continually upon your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

^22uWhen you roam, ¹they will lead you;

When you sleep, ^vthey will keep you;

And when you awake, they will speak with you.

^23wFor the commandment is a lamp,

And the law a light;

Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

^24xTo keep you from the evil woman,

From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

^25yDo not lust after her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

²⁶For ^zby means of a harlot

A man is reduced to a crust of bread;

^aAnd ²an adulteress will ^bprey upon his precious life.

²⁷Can a man take fire to his bosom,

And his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can one walk on hot coals,

And his feet not be seared?

²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

³⁰People do not despise a thief

If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

³¹Yet when he is found, ^che must restore sevenfold;

He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

³²Whoever commits adultery with a woman ^dlacks understanding;

He who does so destroys his own soul.

³³Wounds and dishonor he will get,

And his reproach will not be wiped away.

³⁴For ^ejealousy is a husband’s fury;

Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will ³accept no recompense,

Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

7My son, keep my words, And ^atreasure my commands within you.

^2bKeep my commands and live,

^cAnd my law as the apple of your eye.

^3dBind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your nearest kin,

^5eThat they may keep you from the immoral woman,

From the seductress who flatters with her words.

The Crafty Harlot

⁶For at the window of my house

I looked through my lattice,

⁷And saw among the simple,

I perceived among the ¹youths,

A young man ^fdevoid ²of understanding,

⁸Passing along the street near her corner;

And he took the path to her house

^9gIn the twilight, in the evening,

In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him,

With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

^11hShe was loud and rebellious,

ⁱHer feet would not stay at home.

¹²At times she was outside, at times in the open square,

Lurking at every corner.

¹³So she caught him and kissed him;

With an ³impudent face she said to him:

¹⁴“I have peace offerings with me;

Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you,

Diligently to seek your face,

And I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my bed with tapestry,

Colored coverings of ^jEgyptian linen.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed

With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹For ⁴my husband is not at home;

He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a bag of money ⁵with him,

And will come home ⁶on the appointed day.”

²¹⁷With ^kher enticing speech she caused him to yield,

^lWith her flattering lips she ⁸seduced him.

²²Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or ⁹as a fool to the correction of the ¹stocks,

²³Till an arrow struck his liver.

^mAs a bird hastens to the snare,

He did not know it ²would cost his life.

²⁴Now therefore, listen to me, my children;

Pay attention to the words of my mouth:

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths;

²⁶For she has cast down many wounded,

And ⁿall who were slain by her were strong men.

^27oHer house is the way to ³hell,

Descending to the chambers of death.