Proverbs 5:1–14

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.”